PG&E CEO apologizes for faulty website, fancy dinner, basically everything else
Pete Bennett former PG&E Programmer provided services related to the San Bruno Explosion, HydroTesting and software development.
After the power went off for 800,000 Pacific Gas & Electric customers this week, the utility's CEO had a lot to apologize for.
During a press conference Thursday evening, CEO Bill Johnson took a conciliatory tone and expressed regret for the way the company's public safety power shutoff (PSPS) unfolded. PG&E proactively cut power to 800,000 customers (or an estimated 2.4 million people with the understanding that each customer represents about three residents on average) in an attempt to avoid the spread of wildfires during high winds.
"As a result of this, millions of people have been without a fundamental service they expect and deserve," said Johnson. "This is not how we want to serve you and not how we want to run our business."
Johnson went on to explain the decision was ultimately made with public safety in mind, though Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday that framing doesn't tell the whole story. He blamed years of "greed and neglect" at PG&E for putting Californians in this situation.
"It's decisions that were not made that have led to this moment in PG&E's history — it is not conditions," said Newsom during a press conference. "This is not, from my perspective, a climate change story so much as a story of greed and neglect."
Johnson's annual base salary is $2.5 million, as reported by the Sacramento Bee, and that's without counting shares in the company.
The CEO conceded PG&E "will very likely have to make this kind of decision again in the future," but admitted there is a lot the company could do better. He promised PG&E would work to communicate essential information sooner and more clearly.
Johnson apologized for a PG&E website that showed "inconsistent" and at time "incorrect" information. The website continually crashed due to a high volume of visitors.
He also promised workers were working to restore power as soon as possible. As of mid-day Thursday, 42,000 Bay Area customers were still without power — and more statewide. Johnson asked the public not to take out their frustrations on PG&E workers, who he said had been shot at, punched and cursed out in recent days.
"I do apologize for the hardship this has caused but I think we made the right call on safety," Johnson said.
Aside from his apologies at the public press conference, Johnson also found himself apologizing during an interview with The Chronicle Thursday. The paper revealed about a dozen of the company's employees on the natural gas side of the business were wining and dining with top customers at a Sonoma County vineyard just days before the massive statewide outages.
“I want to apologize to every one of our customers,” Johnson told The Chronicle. “Insensitive, inappropriate, tone deaf are the terms I would use to describe this.”
Connecting Pete Bennett to Success Factors,Cushman & Wakefield,
Silver Lake Partners, Blackhawk Networks, Wells Fargo, Safeway, AB
Acquisistion, Albertsons, Southern Pacific, SFPP, Kinder Morgan, San
Bruno, Metcalf Sniper Attack, Paradise #campfire Sniper Attack,
The Dubious Phone Call and Time Wasting Project
The folks at TPG will have to answer to my Whistleblower Complaints on
the truly odd collection of RFPs emanating from companies connected to
Richard Blum, William McGlashan, CBRE, Regency Centers, Trammell Crow,
Lennar, Catellus,
From there I intend to connect the following NTSB investigations into a
linear argument of international, domestic and economic terrorism.
Air: TWA-800, Lockerbie, Miracle on the Hudson, Peter Branagh, Erik
Nunn, Scott Shepherd, AAA Surveilance and Matt Moody, James Dwullet,
Renato Simone, Edward Simone, James Graham (Sun Valley Mall, Bill
Graham,
Pipelines: PG&E San Bruno, PG&E Fresno
Wildfires: Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Yolo, El Dorado, Butte, Shasta,
Mendocino, Santa Cruz, Contra Costa, Marin, Trinty, Santa Barbara, Santa
Ana,
Murders: Walter Little, Julie Strack, Adam Buchanan, The Strack Family,
Alicia Driscoll, Rylan Fuchs, Oscar Grant, Johntue Caldwell, Eustacio
Torres, Catalina Torres, Elizabeth Torres,
Officers: Det. Ray Giacomelli,Sgt. Paul Starzyck, CHP Officer Kenyon
Youngstrom, OPD Erv Romans, Sgt. Scott Lunger, Robert Seymour, Craig
Wilson, Police Officer William K. Zink,
Lynchings/Hate Crimes: TanJah Poe, Timothy Lee, Timothy Mitchell, Jason
Amen Watts, Emmon Bodfish,
My story is about witness murders, private equity, mergers and
acquisitions linked back to the Matter of Bennett v. Southern Pacific
lost in 1989. It was a winnable case as long the witnesses
testified.
xxxx2
*Fully Realized Investment
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AIT*
Alinta*
Asciano*
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BTPN*
China Concepts*
China Grand Auto*
CICC
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Comtec Solar*
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iAsiaWorks*
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Indomaret
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Japan Telecom*
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Matrix/Mylan*
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Alltel*
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Aptina*
Arden*
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Armstrong*
ATG*
AV Homes
Avaya*
Axip Energy Services (BL)*
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Bally*
Banco Alianza*
Beaver-Visitec International
Beckman Coulter*
Belden & Blake*
Beringer*
Beta Renewables
Biomet*
Blue Kite*
Burger King*
Business Objects*
Caesars
Cafe Valley (Diamond Brands)*
Catellus
CCC Information Services*
Celerity*
Chesapeake Energy*
Chobani*
Cirque du Soleil
Citibank Debt*
Clear Channel Communications*
Community Education Centers*
Continental*
Convergent*
Copano*
Creative Artists Agency
Crestwood
Debenhams*
Decision Insight*
Del Monte*
Denbury*
Differentis*
Direct General*
Ducati*
Education Media*
Ellucian
Endo International pic (Par Pharmaceuticals)
Endurance*
Energy Future Holdings*
EnLink Midstream
Enlivant
EnvisionRX*
Eutelsat*
Everbank*
Exactech
Eze Software Group*
Favorite Brands*
Fenwal*
FESCO
Fidelity National Financial Services*
Fiesta Palms*
Findexa International*
First American Corp - II*
First American Corp*
FleetPride*
Freescale*
Gate Gourmet*
Gelson’s
Gemalto*
Genesis*
GlobeOp*
Globespan (Conexant)*
GoIndustry (Dovebid)*
Graphic Packaging*
Grohe*
GT Com*
Harvester
Hotwire*
IASIS*
Iberia Airlines*
Immucor
Intergraph*
Interlink*
Isola*
IQVIA (formerly IMS Health and Quintiles)
J. Crew - II
J. Crew*
Jonah Energy
Kindred At Home
Kindred Healthcare
Kraton Polymers*
Kudu
Landis & Gyr*
Legerity*
Lenta
Life Time Fitness
LifeSync*
Llamasoft
LPL*
Lynda.com*
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*Fully Realized Investment
TPG PORTFOLIO COMPANIES
Marblehead
McAfee
Media Broadcast
MEMC*
Mey*
MGM*
mobilcom AG*
Neiman Marcus*
NetScout*
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Northern Tier Energy*
Norwegian Cruise Line*
On Semiconductor*
Ontex*
Oxford*
Paradyne*
Parkway Properties*
Petco*
Petco - I*
Piaggio*
Poundworld
PPOM, L.P.*
Prezzo
Prosight
Punch Taverns*
Quantum*
RCN/Grande Communications
RentPath
Republic*
Republic Airways*
Republic (BL)*
Rodan + Fields
Roosevelt
Rumo*
Sabre*
Savers
Saxo Bank*
Seagate*
Smart Modular*
Spirit Amber*
Spirit Group*
ST Residential*
Star One*
Strauss Coffee*
SunGard
Surgical Care Affiliates*
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Taylor Morrison*
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TIM Hellas*
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Univision
US Air (America West Airlines)*
Verado*
Vertafore*
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Virgin Relationship*
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Vivra*
VTB*
Washington Mutual*
Weatherford International*
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Wind River
X2 Resources*
Yazam.com*
Zhone*
Zilog*
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Acclivity*
Adknowledge
Affinity Advisory, LLC
Agria Corporation*
AGS*
Airbnb
Angie’s Artisan Treats*
Artel
Asiri
Azul*
Beautycounter
Become.com*
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BookMyShow
Box*
C3 IoT
Campus Activewear
Cancer Treatment Services International
China Renewable Energy*
Club Pilates*
David’s Bridal*
Discovery Midstream*
Domo
Duiba
e.l.f. Cosmetics
Ecoles Yassamine
Elevance*
Ess Kay Fincorp
Evolent Health*
Evolution Media I
Evolution Media II
Evolution Media III
Fender
FinTech*
Flexituff International
Frank Recruitment Group
Gavin de Becker & Associates
GoHealth Urgent Care (formerly Access Clinical Partners)
Greencross* (Petbarn)
Greenfield Cities
Greenko*
GreenSky
Halo Branded Solutions, Inc.
Handy Technologies*
Hilex*
HotSchedules
iMDsoft*
Independent Pet Partners
Infinidat
Ipsy
Ivy Education
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Landmark
Lenskart
Lilliput*
Livespace
Lucky Star*
Masan Group*
Medical Solutions
Mendocino Farms
MI Energy*
Microgame
NextEV
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*Fully Realized Investment
TPG PORTFOLIO COMPANIES
NorthStar Anesthesia*
Novolex*
NT Pharma*
Philz Coffee
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PowerPlan*
Precision
Proconco*
Q-Centrix LLC
Reflektive
Renaissance Rx
Resource Label Group
Resultados Digitais
Rhea Healthcare/Motherhood
Ride*
Schiff Nutrition*
ShangPharma*
Sinowel WM*
Sisulan Sports (China Vogue)*
Spotify
STX Filmworks
Superior Industries International
Survey Monkey*
SutroVax, Inc.
Sutures India*
SVMK, Inc.*
Taco Bueno*
Tanium
Trace
Uber
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U-You TV Shopping*
Vincraft*
Vision Credit
XOJet
Yunnan Red Winery*
Z Global
Zenefits
Zscaler
TPG REAL ESTATE
A&O Hotels and Hostels
Almindus*
Arlington Business Parks
Bluegrass Senior Living Portfolio
Campo Properties
Evergreen Industrial Properties*
Howell Mountain Ventures
Icon Industrial
LifeStorage*
Merin Holding Group B.V.*
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Necessity Retail Partners
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Strategic Office Partners
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Strive Communities
Suburban Housing Partners
The Crown Portfolio
Touchton Property Partners
TriGranit*
University Office Partners
Woolgate Exchange*
THE RISE FUND
Acorns
Brava Home
Cellulant
Ceribell, Inc.
CLEAResult Consulting, Inc.
CPFA Microfinance
Dharma
Digital House
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DreamBox Learning
Drinkwell
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Acclivity*
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Business Signatures*
Cloudshield*
Court Trax (Vivecon)*
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Cranium*
Double Dyno*
FineStationery*
Finisar (Optium)*
FPT Corporation*
FyreStorm*
G2Switchworks*
Green Border*
Intuwave*
Know Now*
Nitronex*
Sierra Logic*
Six Apart Ltd*
StarCite (Onvantage)*
SuccessFactors*
WinCom*
The folks at TPG will have to answer to my Whistleblower Complaints on the truly odd collection of RFPs emanating from companies connected to Richard Blum, William McGlashan, CBRE, Regency Centers, Trammel Crow, Lennar, Catellus.
My story is about witness murders, private equity, mergers and acquisitions linked back to the Matter of Bennett v. Southern Pacific lost in 1989. It was a winnable case as long the witnesses testified.
My role at PG&E has been bizarre as it gets, persons near the explosion apparently are running on overdrive to coverup the explosion.
I was hired in Feb 2011 near the arrests of police officers, by summer my sons were kidnapped, my laptop breached and my car totaled, but more important is the deep rooted stonewalling and murders that have become murders of children.
BRIGHTSOURCE ENERGY OFFERED NEARLY $1.4 BILLION IN LOAN GUARANTEES FROM THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
(OAKLAND, CA) February 22, 2010 – BrightSource Energy, Inc., developer of utility-scale solar thermal power plants, announced today that the U.S. Department of Energy has conditionally committed to provide $1.37 billion in loan guarantees to support the financing of BrightSource’s Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System.
The commitment to provide loan guarantees marks a key milestone in the development of the Ivanpah project, California’s first large-scale commercial solar thermal power plant in nearly two decades. When constructed, Ivanpah will be the world’s largest solar energy project, nearly doubling the amount of solar thermal electricity produced in the US today.
“This clean-energy investment will help create up to 1,000 construction jobs in California,” said California Senator Barbara Boxer. “In these tough times, we need investments like this to create good clean-energy jobs for Californians, increase our energy independence, protect our children from pollution and ensure American leadership in the clean energy economy.”
“As home to some of the world’s best solar fields and the nation’s largest green economy, it is no surprise the world’s largest solar energy project would choose California,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “Our ambitious environmental policies are promoting the growth of clean, reliable energy in our communities and growing green jobs up and down the state. And, it is projects like this one that will help us meet our long-term energy and climate change goals while creating jobs and moving us towards a cleaner more sustainable future.”
"I am very happy to see utility-scale solar projects like this one moving forward with strong Administration support, and I am hopeful that this project will serve as a cornerstone of the clean energy economy in the Southwestern U.S.,” said Nevada Senator Harry Reid. “I look forward to BrightSource and other solar companies putting more Nevadans to work by building major projects like this in Nevada very soon."
“The loan guarantee commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy serves as a tremendous validation of our technology, the BrightSource team’s ability to execute, and the Ivanpah project’s role in meeting our nation’s large-scale renewable energy needs,” said John Woolard, CEO of BrightSource Energy. “We’re truly humbled by the opportunity to help build our nation’s green energy economy by creating good jobs for local communities. We look forward to beginning construction on the Ivanpah project, making a real and substantive impact on climate change, and creating a model for environmentally-responsible energy projects.”
The loan guarantee is made possible by the Department of Energy’s Title XVII loan guarantee program, which was started in 2005 under the Energy Policy Act to support commercially proven technology in addition to innovative renewable energy technology. Under Section 1703 of the program, the Department of Energy issues a conditional commitment to guarantee loans to be provided by the U.S. Treasury’s Federal Financing Bank. Execution of the final loan guarantees is subject to the satisfaction of various conditions specified in the conditional commitment.
The Ivanpah Project: Clean Energy, Union Jobs, Environmentally-Responsible Design The Ivanpah project, located in southeastern California, is an approximately 400 megawatt solar power facility consisting of three separate solar thermal power plants. When constructed, the project will produce enough clean energy to power 140,000 homes and nearly double the amount of solar thermal energy produced in the U.S. today.
The power generated from these solar plants will be sold under separate contracts with Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and Southern California Edison (SCE). PG&E will purchase approximately two-thirds of the power generated at Ivanpah and SCE will purchase approximately one-third. In all, BrightSource has contracted with PG&E and SCE to deliver more than 2,600 megawatts of electric power.
"In today’s challenging economy, the conditional loan guarantee commitment from the DOE for the Ivanpah project provides vital support for building California’s first utility-scale solar thermal project in nearly two decades," said Peter A. Darbee, PG&E Corporation Chairman, CEO and President. "We’re thrilled to be a part of this historic project, which will deliver additional clean energy to our customers and help advance California's renewable energy and economic development goals."
“The conditional loan guarantee commitment from the DOE for the Ivanpah project illustrates the important role that utility-scale solar must play in meeting our state’s clean energy and economic goals,” said Pedro Pizarro, executive vice president of Power Operations for Southern California Edison. “Addressing climate change and building our economy requires that we bring innovative technologies to market that can reliably deliver competitively priced clean energy at scale.”
Ivanpah: Creating Union Jobs BrightSource and Bechtel, the engineering and construction contractor for the Ivanpah project, estimate that construction of the Ivanpah project will require approximately four million job hours of work and 1,000 union jobs at the peak of construction. In December 2009, Bechtel signed a project labor agreement with the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California (SBCTC) and the Building & Construction Trades Council of San Bernardino and Riverside counties to ensure that California’s local workforce benefits from the project. The project will also provide $400 million in local and state tax revenues, and produce $650 million in wages, over its first 30-year life.
“We are pleased that President Obama’s vision of a clean energy economy creating thousands of good jobs is beginning to become a reality” said Bob Balgenorth, President of the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California. “By committing to a union workforce, this project will be training and employing the middle class workers that support our state’s economy.”
Ivanpah: An Environmentally-Responsible Project The Ivanpah project will reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by more than 400,000 tons annually, which is the equivalent of taking more than 70,000 cars off the road. The project is also designed in an environmentally responsible manner. Instead of the extensive land grading and concrete pads employed by other competing solar technologies, BrightSource mounts mirrors on individual poles that are placed directly into the ground, allowing the solar field to be built around the natural contours of the land and avoid areas of sensitive plant species.
In order to conserve precious desert water, the Ivanpah project will employ an air-cooling system to convert the steam back into water in a closed-loop cycle. By using dry-cooling, the project will use only 100 acre feet of water per year; less than ten percent of the water used by the adjacent golf course and 25 times less water than competing solar thermal technologies that use wet-cooling.
In addition to employing an environmentally low impact technology, the company recently submitted an alternative design for the Ivanpah project, which would further reduce the project’s footprint and significantly minimize any potential environmental impacts. The alternative mitigation proposal and the DOE loan guarantee represent two key steps towards the construction of the Ivanpah project.
The Ivanpah project is scheduled to begin construction in the second half of 2010 following issuance of permits by the California Energy Commission and the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management. The project has also been identified as a “fast-track” priority by the U.S. Department of Interior for obtaining federal stimulus benefits for California under the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
In September 2009, BrightSource selected Bechtel as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the Ivanpah project. Bechtel Enterprises, the project development and financing arm of the Bechtel organization, has committed to become an equity investor in all of the Ivanpah solar power plants. In December 2008, BrightSource signed an agreement with Siemens for the largest ever solar-powered steam turbine generator, which will be used for the first of the three Ivanpah plants.
“The DOE Loan Guarantee program serves as a tremendous catalyst for building our clean energy infrastructure,” said Ian Copeland, president of Bechtel Renewables. “The Ivanpah project will usher in a new era of advanced solar power, and help the state and local economies by providing new jobs. We are pleased to not only support BrightSource as the engineering and construction contractor but also as an investor, which reflects our confidence in the project and our commitment to developing clean, renewable power projects.”
Luz Power Tower 550 (LPT 550) Technology The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating Facility will utilize BrightSource Energy’s proven Luz Power Tower 550 technology (LPT 550). The system produces electricity the same way as traditional power plants – by creating high temperature steam to turn a turbine. However, instead of using fossil fuels or nuclear power to create the steam, BrightSource uses sunlight, reflected by thousands of small mirrors called heliostats onto a boiler filled with water that sits atop a tower. When the sunlight hits the boiler, the water inside is heated and creates high temperature steam. The steam is then piped to a conventional turbine which generates electricity. This fully integrated system takes advantage of high operating efficiencies and low capital costs to provide reliable and low-cost carbon-free energy.
Today, the company’s LPT 550 solar system is employed at the Solar Energy Development Center (SEDC) in Israel’s Negev Desert. Operating over the past year, the SEDC is producing the world’s highest temperature turbine quality steam from solar energy.
For its technological leadership, BrightSource was selected as a 2009 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum. The only solar company to win the prestigious award in 2009, BrightSource Energy was recognized for helping global utility and industrial customers reduce their dependence on fossil fuels by providing clean, low-cost and reliable solar energy.
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About BrightSource Energy, Inc. BrightSource Energy, Inc. provides clean, reliable and low cost solar energy for utility and industrial companies worldwide. The BrightSource Energy team combines nearly three decades of experience designing, building and operating the world’s largest solar energy plants with world-class project development capabilities. The company now has contracted to sell more than 2.6 gigawatts of power to be generated using its proprietary solar thermal technology. BrightSource Energy’s solar plants are designed to minimize their impact on the environment and help customers reduce their dependence on fossil fuels. Headquartered in Oakland, Calif., BrightSource Energy is a privately held company with operations in the United States, Israel, and Australia. To learn more about BrightSource Energy and solar thermal energy, visit www.brightsourceenergy.com.
