Small public safety power shutoff planned for parts of California through the weekend and on Monday
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said that a wind event is expected to lead to a small public safety power shutoff over the weekend and into early next week.
While the company said that the shutoff will begin in some parts of the states on Saturday, power is expected to be shut off to only about 59 Lake County on Sunday and Monday.
PG&E said the northerly wind event, combined with extreme to exceptional drought and extremely dry vegetation, resulted in it sending two-day-ahead advanced notifications to about 5,800 customers in targeted portions of 13 counties and two tribal communities where PG&E may need to implement a public safety power shutoff, or PSPS, to reduce the risk of wildfire from energized power lines.
In several of these counties, fewer than 100 customers are expected to be impacted.
Potentially affected counties and customers in your coverage area are:
Butte: 431 customers, 32 Medical Baseline customers;
Colusa: 559 customers, 37 Medical Baseline customers;
Fresno: 92 customers, 4 Medical Baseline customers;
Glenn: 365 customers, 22 Medical Baseline customers;
Kern: 595 customers, 36 Medical Baseline customers;
Lake: 59 customers, 3 Medical Baseline customers;
Napa: 85 customers, 6 Medical Baseline customers;
San Benito: 2 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers;
Shasta: 268 customers, 22 Medical Baseline customers;
Sonoma: 3 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers;
Stanislaus: 29 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers;
Tehama: 3,159 customers, 297 Medical Baseline customers;
Yolo: 99 customers, 2 Medical Baseline customers;
Other: 5 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers.
Potential affected tribal areas:
Grindstone Rancheria (Glenn County): 49 customers;
Cortina Rancheria (Colusa County): 8 customers.
Despite the potential for rain in some areas this weekend, PG&E is notifying customers that a PSPS may be necessary if rain does not materialize or if forecasted wind speeds still pose a wildfire risk.
The potential shutoffs could begin Saturday morning in portions of the North Sacramento Valley. Potential shutoffs for the San Joaquin Valley, other portions of the Sacramento Valley, North Bay as well as Kern County could begin Sunday, depending on the timing of the wind event.
PG&E activated its Emergency Operations Center on Oct. 19 to support this weather event.
Customer notifications via text, email and automated phone call began on Friday, approximately two days prior to the potential shutoff.
Customers can look up their address online to find out if their location is being monitored for the potential safety shutoff at http://www.pge.com/pspsupdates.
If customers enrolled in the company’s Medical Baseline do not verify that they have received these important safety communications, PG&E employees will conduct individual, in-person visits when possible with a primary focus on customers who rely on electricity for critical life-sustaining equipment.