PG&E Power Shutoffs Hit 940,000 Customers In Northern, Central CA

As night fell on the Bay Area Saturday, the lights did not go on hundreds of thousands of homes or businesses. Some 940,000 customers were expected to be left without power in a historic move by Pacific Gas & Electric, which implemented a massive public safety power shutoff across the region.

The shutoff, which was being rolled out in phases, affects 38 counties and is expected to last through Monday.

"Once the high winds subside, PG&E will inspect the de-energized lines to ensure they were not damaged during the wind event, and then restore power," the company said in a news release. "PG&E will safely restore power in stages as quickly as possible, with the goal of restoring the vast majority of customers within 48 hours after the weather has passed."

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

And as the power shutdowns went into effect, PG&E officials said that another wind-related weather event is expected to hit the area midweek, and could trigger another round of the outages, a PG&E official said.

Andy Vesey, PG&E's president and CEO, said Saturday that once power returns to Northern California in a few days, preparations for another cycle should begin.

"As your power comes back on, please use that time to prepare again," Vesey said at a news conference.

Saturday's public safety power shutoff was expanded to include even more customers than previously estimated by the utility company.

"Due to weather forecasts indicating potential for a historic wind event this weekend, PG&E confirmed it will implement a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) affecting approximately 940,000 customers — an increase of about 90,000 from previous estimates — in portions of 36 counties," the power company said in a news release.

Outage times varied for customers across Northern and Central California, the company said. While the company gave planned times for the power to be turned off, residents were being told to prepare for the power to be turned off at any time.

Residents can look up their individual address to see if their power will be shut off.

The timings for the planned shut-off could change depending on the weather, happening earlier or later than expected.

The updated power shut-off schedule announced by Pacific, Gas & Electric is below:

• 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26 in Amador, Butte, El Dorado, Glenn, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, San Joaquin, Sierra, Shasta, Tehama, Yuba counties
• 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26 in Colusa, Lake, Marin, Mendocino (south), Napa, Solano, Sonoma, Yolo counties
• 12 a.m Sunday, Oct. 27 in Alpine, Calaveras, Mariposa, Tuolumne counties
• 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26 inAlameda, Contra Costa, Monterey, San Benito, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Stanislaus counties
• 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26 in Humboldt, Mendocino (north), Siskiyou, Trinity counties
• 9 P.M. Sunday, Oct. 27 in Kern County
• To Be Announced: Fresno, Madera

Customers are being asked to prepare for an extended outage of at least two days once the severe weather has passed.

A list of community resource centers can be found here.

This report will be updated.

— Patch editor Renee Schiavone and Bay City News Service contributed to this report