By Julie Cart | CALmatters

CALmatters is an independent public interest journalism venture covering California state politics and government.

Photo:  This small energy system, or microgrid, powers the Southern California desert town of Borrego Springs. Photo courtesy of San Diego Gas & Electric

November 4, 2019 (San Diego) - More than 1 million Californians were left in the dark for days recently as their big utility companies shut off power for fear of sparking wildfires. Frustrated by those outages, some homeowners say they’d like to turn their backs on the companies in favor of smaller providers who might do a better job of keeping the lights on. The mayors of San Francisco and San Jose say they want to sever ties with Pacific Gas and Electric, which serves much of Northern California, and create separate utilities for their cities.