Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

UPDATING: PG&E Warns Customers Of Power Shut Off In 17 Counties

Josh Edelson
/
Getty Images

Updated 11:05 a.m. on 10/23

Electricity service will be severed in the Sierra Nevada foothills at around 2 p.m. Tuesday as Pacific Gas and Electric Company attempts to reduce the risk that its equipment will cause another catastrophic wildfire.

The voluntary blackout is expected to hit about 179,000 customers across 17 counties including Alpine,  Butte, Lake, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sierra, Tehama and Yuba. 

Dry, gale force winds are expected to hit the region, especially areas between 1,000 and 3,000 feet of elevation. The blackout will spread to the North Bay at a.m. and into the San Joaquin Valley at 1 a.m. Thursday. 

With vegetation tinder dry from months without rain, and humidity dropping due to winds out of the north and east, any sparks from the electric system, or short circuits caused by limbs falling on power lines, polls or towers toppling, could cause rapid wildfire spread.

Winds are expected to begin subsiding around noon Thursday. PG&E said once that happens, it could take until midday Saturday to inspect lines and restore power to the vast majority of customers. Damaged local infrastructure could take an additional five days to repair, meaning some could be without electricity until next Tuesday. 

Another spate of strong, hot and dry winds is expected Sunday into Monday, potentially kicking off another voluntary outage. 

PG&E has been notifying customers through robocalls, texts and emails. 

PG&E will open several Community Resource Centers with restrooms, bottled water, charging stations for electronics and air-conditioning. Each will have seating for up to 100 people. The centers won’t open until Thursday at 8 a.m. and will remain open until 8 p.m. nightly until power is restored.

Updated 9 a.m. on 10/23

Pacific Gas and Electric Company continues warning customers across 16 counties that they may lose power within the next several hours.

 

Extremely low humidity, coupled with gusty north winds, have created a critical fire danger across broad swaths of the state.

 

The conditions are caused by the trailing end of storms moving eastward out of the Pacific Northwest, sending hot, dry winds southward out of eastern Oregon and northern Nevada. 

The company has been notifying tens of thousands of customers through automated phone calls and text messages. The utility is considering cutting power to all or parts of Butte, Lake, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sierra, Sutter and Yuba counties, along with other areas.

 

As PG&E spokeswoman Deanna Contreras explained, those losing power may not actually live in a place where the danger is highest. 

 

“It is possible that you might be impacted if you live very close to a region that is forecasted to be impacted by a PSPS event. So, you might not see any of those high winds or any of those conditions, but just the way that the grid works your line might be impacted so your power might be impacted," Contreras said. "It’s all based on the circuits, it’s not really based on ZIP codes, city limits, county lines, it’s based on the circuits that we are de-energizing for safety.” 

 

The company says power should be restored within 48 hours of when winds subside Thursday afternoon, but any damage to power lines or other infrastructure could delay that by up to five more days.