LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said Friday night that it has restored power to nearly all of the customers impacted by a public safety power shutoff that was implemented over the past two days.
The shutoff, which began on Wednesday evening in response to red flag weather conditions, impacted 41,000 customers – about 12,000 customers less than originally forecast – in 24 counties: Alameda, Butte, Contra Costa, Humboldt, Lake, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Plumas, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Solano, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Yolo and Yuba.
In Lake County, 82 Lake County customers, five of them in the medical baseline program, were impacted in the Cobb, Lower Lake and Middletown areas.
PG&E said the severe weather subsided enough during the day on Thursday in some locations for its meteorology team to issue a number of “weather all clears,” which allowed electric crews to begin patrols of power lines to look for damage as the first step toward restoration. As a result, 10,000 customers had their power restored on Thursday.
On Friday morning, PG&E issued the all clear for the remaining areas in the PSPS footprint, deploying 1,200 employees on the ground or in 47 helicopters inspecting about 3,200 miles of lines for damage or hazards.
The majority of the remaining 31,000 customers affected by this PSPS event were restored by early Friday evening, the company said.
PG&E said wind gusts of more than 50 miles per hour were recorded in multiple high fire danger areas including Napa, San Mateo and Yolo counties. Peak wind gusts were recorded in Contra Costa County, 61 miles per hour; Butte County, 64 miles per hour; and Sonoma County, 73 miles per hour.
Based on preliminary data from the company’s damage inspections, there were 30 instances of weather-related damage and hazards – such as downed power lines and vegetation on power lines – in the PSPS-affected areas. PG&E said that type of damage could have resulted in wildland fires had the lines not been deenergized.
PG&E said it will submit a report detailing damages from the severe weather conditions to the California Public Utilities Commission within 10 days of the completion of the PSPS.
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PG&E restores power to most of its customers impacted by public safety power shutoff
- Elizabeth Larson
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