SAN DIEGO — Following California's recent historic heat wave, thousands of people in our county reported losing power, which led to a number of issues, including spoiled food.
Some of you may have wondered, does SDG&E bare any responsibility?
One example is in La Jolla Village, where people lost power for 28 hours over Labor Day.
Maria Bolivar showed us her freezer.
"The freezer you can see is empty with the exception of something I just got," said Bolivar.
She had just gone to Costco a few days before when the power outage happened.
Not wanting their food to go to waste, Bolivar and her neighbors salvaged what they could and organized a last-minute potluck in the courtyard of their apartment complex.
Everything else had to be thrown away.
"It was really painful for me to grab the stuff and put it away. There were a lot of extra flies and stuff because everybody put their food out," said Bolivar.
Bolivar estimates she lost $100 worth of food.
She posted about it on Nextdoor, which opened up a conversation about whether or not SDG&E reimburses people in scenarios like hers.
It turns out, they do, but only in certain scenarios.
On the SDG&E website, there's a page regarding claims, which states:
“If you've suffered a loss or damage due to service interruption and believe we may be responsible, you can submit a claim.”
Those claims can be related to:
- property damage
- bodily injury
- business interruption
- food loss and spoilage
When it comes to food loss and spoilage, you must provide an itemized list, as well as receipts or documentation verifying purchase.
Also, food loss claims are based on guidelines from the us department of agriculture, which state:
- A fully stocked freezer will usually keep food frozen for two days after losing power.
- A half-full freezer will usually keep contents frozen for about one day.
- In the refrigerator, food will usually keep up to four hours, depending on the temperature of the room.
CBS 8 reached out and an SDG&E spokesperson said the following statement:
“As a regulated utility, SDG&E processes claims according to rules set by the California Public Utilities Commission. In accordance with that process, SDG&E is not liable for circumstances beyond our control, including weather conditions that lead to power outages. We investigate all claims in an objective and professional manner. Each claim is evaluated based on its own merits and the outcome of our investigation. We require specific documentation, such as sales receipts and accounting records, to support and verify any alleged loss. Once a claim is received, SDG&E will respond, conduct an investigation and may request additional information.”
In Bolivar's case, SDG&E says the cause of the outage is under investigation.
She likely won't submit a claim, but says, it's good to know in case something like this happens again.
“I'm not gonna do it this time because it's so rare that this happens, but if it's gonna happen, they're gonna have to provide for something like that,” said Bolivar.
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