SMC Expected To Be Impacted By Another PG&E Outage

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — As the lights come back on for some across the Bay Area, they are expected to go dark yet again for many. Here in San Mateo County, officials say more outages are planned for Tuesday.

"As of Monday afternoon, PG&E estimates the Oct. 29 PSPS in San Mateo County could impact 13,000 service addresses which roughly translates to 39,000 customers," the county of San Mateo. "Residents can learn if their address will be impacted by visiting https://psps.ss.pge.com"

The county shared the following information on Monday evening related to the event:

PG&E is in the process of restoring power to the approximately 190,000 San Mateo County customers affected by the Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) that began on Saturday but is expected to start another shut off Tuesday morning to a smaller area.

PG&E notified the County of San Mateo it will likely proactively shut off power to customers south of Pacifica and west of State Route 280 to the ocean at approximately 7 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 29 in response to high winds and fire danger. The shut off is anticipated to last through 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30, not including the time to re-energize the power lines. Power restoration is also dependent upon any damage sustained by PG&E infrastructure from the weather event. Some San Mateo County customers who lost power in the Oct. 26 PSPS may not have it restored prior to the power being shut off again on Tuesday.

As of Monday afternoon, PG&E estimates the Oct. 29 PSPS in San Mateo County could impact 13,000 service addresses which roughly translates to 39,000 customers. Residents can learn if their address will be impacted by visiting https://psps.ss.pge.com

The Tom Lantos Tunnel on Highway 1 will remain open and powered by generators during the PSPS, according to Caltrans. However, drivers are asked to stay out of the impacted areas including the coast. With many traffic signals out, drivers are also encouraged to stay off the roads if possible.

PG&E said it will maintain Community Resource Centers (CRCs) in San Mateo County on Tuesday and those in the impacted areas through the duration of the power shut off. For updates on power restoration and a list of PG&E-operated Community Resource Centers where residents can charge electronics, receive water and use air conditioning, visit PG&E’s PSPS website

County Parks anticipates keeping as many parks open as possible but visit the Parks page for updates.

County Libraries plan to remain open with limited service pending daylight. Please visit Libraries and its social media accounts for updates

The warning comes as PG&E reports that of the 940,000 customers whose power was cut during the weekend Public Safety Power Shutoff, only 325,000 had their power restored by Monday evening.

Approximately 605,000 customers are expected to be affected by Tuesday's PSPS, according to the utility company. Portions of the following 29 counties are currently expected to be impacted: Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Humboldt, Kern, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne, Yolo and Yuba.

Tuesday's event is expected to again be rolled out in phases, starting in the morning.

PG&E meteorologist Scott Strenfel said compared with Sunday's event, winds in Tuesday's event will be weaker but the fuels will be dryer.

"This will be a very high risk event," he said.

Multiple Red Flag Warnings have been issued covering a vast portion of the Bay Area. That area has about 2 million PG&E customers in it.

Strenfel said there is some good news. After Wednesday, weather models do not show another inclement wind event at least through the first week of November.

"Still no rain in the forecast," he said, "but it appears we are going to be entering a more quiescent weather pattern."

Keith Stephens, a spokesperson for PG&E, brought some bad news. He said a contractor working for the utility died Friday night when his vehicle went over a large elevated area in Humboldt County.

— Bay City News Service contributed to this report