PG&E: 850,000 customers in 36 counties could be impacted by potential power shutoff
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Faced with an incoming weather system that could bring some of the most powerful winds California has experienced in decades, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said it is continuing to monitor the situation as it decides whether to implement another public safety power shutoff across a huge swath of its California service area, including Lake County.
As of Friday afternoon, the company said it hadn’t yet determined whether to move forward with a shutoff, but will continue to monitor weather conditions and provide more definitive information on the potential timing and scale of shutoffs as weather models are updated.
At the same time, the National Weather Service on Friday issued a red flag warning that’s in effect for Lake County from 11 a.m. Saturday to 11 a.m. Monday due to hot, dry conditions that raise the possibility of fire.
The agency also has issued a high wind watch for Lake County timed for 11 a.m. Saturday through 11 p.m. Sunday.
PG&E said the potential public safety power shutoff could affect approximately 850,000 customers and may impact portions of 36 counties across portions of Humboldt, the Sierra foothills, Western Sacramento Valley, North Bay, and across the greater Bay area, Monterey Bay and northern Central Coast on Saturday, Oct. 26. Customers in the southernmost portion of PG&E’s service area in Kern County could have power shut off for safety on Sunday, Oct. 27.
This potential shutoff could see the power shut off to 100,000 more customers than were impacted in the shutoff that began on Oct. 9.
In this predicted shutoff, all of Lake County’s communities are anticipated to be impacted. PG&E said a total of 37,441 customer accounts – including 2,170 medical baseline customers – would have their power cut.
PG&E said the potentially powerful and widespread dry, hot and windy weather event is expected to begin impacting the service area Saturday between 6 and 10 p.m. and lasting until midday Monday.
“The upcoming wind event has the potential to be one of the strongest in the last several years. It’s also likely to be longer than recent wind events, which have lasted about 12 hours or less,” said Scott Strenfel, principal meteorologist with PG&E.
Local resources to be available
Two community resource centers will be available in Lake County should the shutoff take place: at Konocti Vista Casino, 2755 Mission Rancheria Road in Lakeport, and Twin Pine Casino & Hotel, 22223 Highway 29, Middletown.
The centers will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily during a shutoff and will offer restrooms, bottled water, electronic device charging and air-conditioned/heated seating for up to 100 people.
The city of Lakeport said its facilities, police station and City Hall will be open and operational during business hours.
The Lakeport Police Department will have increased staffing on during the nighttime hours to patrol neighborhoods and business districts.
The city also will have emergency operations staff on standby. Public Works will also have nighttime staffing to monitor water and sewer infrastructure which we anticipate will remain fully operational.
Lakeport officials reported that they are working in cooperation with the Lakeport Fire Protection District, which also will have increased staffing during this event and are prepared to handle any emergency fire situations.
Thanks to backup generators at the Lake County Courthouse and Clearlake City Hall, operations at those locations will continue during normal business hours next week.
In addition to regular business hours taking place at the courthouse next week, the Department of Social Services in Lower Lake now has a backup generator at its 15975 Anderson Ranch Parkway facility, so services will be available there, too, according to Matthew Rothstein of the Lake County Administrative Office.
Power could be off for several days
If it does move forward with the shutoff, PG&E will need to turn off power for safety several hours before the potentially damaging winds arrive.
As the weather system sweeps from north to south over a period of two days, PG&E said its customers across Northern and Central California will feel the effects of hot, dry winds at different times, which means outage times will vary, as well.
Predictive data models indicate the weather event could be the most powerful in California in decades, with widespread dry Northeast winds between 45 to 60 miles per hour and peak gusts of 60 to 70 miles per hour in the higher elevations.
PG&E said winds of this magnitude pose a higher risk of damage and sparks on the electric system and rapid wildfire spread. The fire risk is even higher because vegetation on the ground has been dried out by recent wind events.
Customers should prepare for a shutoff lasting 48 hours or longer, given the long duration of the wind event. Power cannot be restored until the dangerous weather has passed, safety inspections of de-energized lines are complete, and damage to the system has been repaired, PG&E said.
“We understand that a longer shutoff would be very difficult for our customers. We are already working to minimize the length, including amassing a force of field personnel from PG&E, plus contractors and other utility companies, to be ready to tackle the inspection, repair and restoration process as soon as the weather passes,” said PG&E Corporation CEO and President Bill Johnson.
To help speed inspections and repairs, the company has requested mutual aid of 1,000 workers from other energy companies, including ATCO Energy in Alberta, Xcel Energy in Minnesota and Florida Power & Light. These crews are expected to be staged and briefed on the restoration plan by Sunday evening. If weather progresses as expected, restoration could begin in some portions of the affected area as early as Monday afternoon.
The company and its mutual aid partners will prioritize areas that can be safety restored to bring the maximum number of customers back online as quickly as possible.
PG&E said it is working to minimize customer impact wherever possible through a combination of sectionalizing the grid and providing emergency backup power generation resources that will be able to quickly re-energize customers in portions of some cities.
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