Hilda L. Solis: “I am representing a district in Los Angeles County, California; and a week and a half ago I had my first experience…”

“I am representing a district in Los Angeles County, California; and a week and a half ago I had my first experience going through a blackout. One would think that in a community like mine, in the city of El Monte, that our readiness would be there; that we would have substantial support to be able to help our community out. What I found going through 30 minutes of this blackout was that I was unable to use my cell phone because there was no capacity to make calls. All the electricity went out. All our lights went out on our streets. And no one was notified in advance. This is a serious problem that we are going through, and it was not even 80 degrees in California. So we are talking about a very severe problem that is affecting many residents throughout California. I happen to represent an area where we have a large number of people who are on fixed incomes, low-income people and senior citizens. They are not going to get a tax break, they are not going to get $300 or $600, but they are going to get in return a big utility bill. In addition, they also have to pay more for gasoline, $2.12. That is what it is. They are looking for leadership from FERC and from this administration.”