PG&E CEO responds to viewer question about 'party' held during power shutoffs

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Though PG&E officials set out to provide an update on the status of power outages in the Bay Area, the CEO Bill Johnson found himself addressing criticism about a reported party employees attended during the shutoffs this week.

RELATED: PG&E Power Outage: CEO Bill Johnson apologizes, responds to criticism of Public Safety Power Shutoff

"...Entertaining a group of customers it was insensitive, it was tone deaf, it was poor judgement given the timing of this on anniversary of the event two years ago in the North Bay, it was inappropriate. Our focus needs to be on some other things. Our focus needs to be on serving customers well, making sure we're treating customers safely and making sure we're doing things like PSPS well. We need to bring our focus back to that. I've told these individuals how I feel about it, told everybody in the company we will no longer be doing any events like this."

Johnson also responded to ABC7 News' Dan Noyes' question asking who paid for the party and if they can provide any proof that shareholders paid for it.

"I'm sure we can do something verify that-- but I'll just repeat this-- I can tell you with great assurance that will be paid for by shareholders."

Johnson acknowledged that they were not prepared for this event when it came to communication and says that it is something they will make sure is better if and when this happens again.

For the latest stories about PG&E's Public Safety Power Shutoff go here.

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