Nevada City Mayor Calls PG&E's Power Shutdown 'Hit Job'
NEVADA CITY (CBS13) — Nevada City's mayor is calling the PG&E Public Safety Power Outage a "hit job" on her community.
"There seems to be a lot of communities that have had there power turned off when there's no wind, and that's an economic hit job," Nevada City Mayor Reinette Senum said.
Senum says PG&E's decision to turn off power in a city experiencing no strong winds is suspicious.
"People are very suspicious of that," Senum said. "So we need to call PG&E out. Everyone here is supportive of our power being turned off when there is catastrophic winds, but there should be some winds."
READ: Some Customers Regain Power, Second Wave Of Outages Affect More Than 230K PG&E Customers
The mayor led a small light protest outside city hall Wednesday night. Earlier, inside the city hall, the public gathered for their regularly-scheduled council meeting using holiday lights and a flashlight to help see.
A few doors down from city hall at McGee's Bar, the darkness forced people out of their homes and into the only business open on the street. Owner Richie Costello used lanterns to light his path to the ice room.
The crowd grew much bigger than a typical Wednesday.
"It's been packed all day," Costello said.
The PG&E power shutdown in Nevada City leaving to crowds at the neighborhood bar, and questions from the Mayor.
"Can't we know when the wind is blowing and then turn the power off," Mayor Senum said.
