Again?! PG&E warns another shutoff could come early next week
SAN FRANCISCO – As Pacific Gas & Electric Co. launched its largest public safety power shutoff yet Saturday, the embattled utility warned that another planned outage could come as soon as early next week.
“We’re not out of the woods yet,” said Andy Vesey, a PG&E executive who oversees electric operations. “We may have a weather system, not with this intensity, which may hit us early to middle of next week.”
The company also announced Saturday it was expanding the current shutoff to include portions of Fresno and Madera counties, as well as additional customers in Mariposa County and Yosemite National Park. In all, some 940,000 customers – more than 2 million people – were told they would lose power between Saturday evening and Sunday night.
Utility officials say the current shutoff was based on forecasts of historic dry, hot and windy weather that poses a significant risk for damage and sparks on the electric system as well as rapid wildfire spread. The North Bay, for example, could see sustained winds of 40-55 mph and gusts of 60-75 mph in higher elevations Saturday night into Sunday morning.
“We don’t do it because it’s easy for us,” Vesey said about the shutoffs, which have drawn widespread criticism. “We do it because it’s the right thing to do to make sure that we can protect you, your property, and your loved ones from a catastrophic wildfire.”
PG&E Has Begun De-energization of Electric Lines for Public Safety – Impacts Will Include Customers in Parts of 38 Counties in Northern and Central California, Historic Wind Event Will Affect 940,000 Customers and Last Through Monday https://t.co/XUqXZEo9k2 pic.twitter.com/nV4LlRdCDa
— PG&E (@PGE4Me) October 27, 2019
The current shutoff is slated to take place in as many as seven phases. The first and second phases both started at 5 p.m. Saturday in the northern Sierra foothills and the North Bay, where the Kincade Fire has scorched 26,000 acres and forced the evacuations of 90,000 residents.
Covered in the first phase are Amador, Butte, El Dorado, Glenn, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, San Joaquin, Sierra, Shasta, Tehama and Yuba counties. The second phase encompasses Colusa, Lake, Marin, south Marin, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties.
By 9 p.m., much of Windsor in Sonoma County was dark, save for a couple of shopping centers and traffic signals that hadn’t yet lost power. The situation was similar in Healdsburg, where the Raven Performing Arts Theater marquee could not be read without a flashlight.
A third phase got underway at 8 p.m. in Alameda, Contra Costa, Monterey, San Benito, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Stanislaus counties. About an hour later, a fourth phase kicked off in Humboldt, north Mendocino, Siskiyou and Trinity counties.
The fifth and sixth phases were set to begin at midnight Sunday and 9 p.m. Sunday, respectively. Alpine, Calaveras, Mariposa and Tuolumne counties are in the former; Kern County is in the latter.
A seventh phase might include Fresno and Madera counties, but no times or dates have been released.
“It’s a very large event for us to manage, but we’re confident we can do this and we can do this safely,” said Mark Quinlan, a PG&E senior director overseeing the shutoff.
Utility officials say it could take up to 48 hours to restore power in the affected areas once an all-clear is called.
Check back for updates.
Staff writer Joseph Geha contributed to this report.