In the recent California storm, some of my family and friends went without power for up to four days. If you went without power for more than 48hrs, you qualify for some cash from PG&E. It's not much, but there's no reason not to take it -- is there? Also, if you lost a lot of food in your fridge or freezer, you can submit a claim requesting reimbursement for food spoilage. Check it out:

Food Spoilage http://www.pge.com/includes/docs/pdfs/customer_service/claims/claimform_santarosa.pdf

Safety Net The program provides a special, customer service staffed outage hotline, 1 (888) 743-4743 or 1 (888) PGE-4PGE, so you can speak to someone about your particular outage. Call and request a Storm Inconvenience Payment, which are provided in increments of $25, up to a maximum of $100 per event. Payment levels are based on the length of the customer's outage

* 48 to 72 hours $25
* 72 to 96 hours $50
* 96 to 120 hours $75
* 120 hours or more $100