Public Safety Power Shutoff To Impact Alameda, Contra Costa Counties

EAST BAY, CA—A potential high wind event is forecast to start mid-Saturday morning. The forecast coupled with continuing weather conditions, including dry vegetation and low humidity, prompted Pacific Gas and Electric Company to send advanced notifications to customers in targeted areas about a possible public safety power shutoff this weekend.

Customers in parts of Alameda and Contra Costa counties are among those who have been notified via text, phone call, and/or email that PG&E may need to proactively turn the power off for safety to reduce the risk of wildfire from energized powerlines.

The potential shutoff is currently expected to affect approximately 16,000 customers in small parts of seven counties in and around the Bay Area:

• Alameda County: 163 customers
• Contra Costa County: 328 customers
• Fresno County: 3 customers
• Merced County: 3,979 customers
• San Benito County: 193 customers
• San Joaquin County: 6,352 customers
• Stanislaus County: 5,028 customers

"Here in the Bay Area, we have notified fewer than 500 customers in the far eastern portions of Alameda and Contra Costa counties combined of the possibility of a PSPS," PG&E Spokesperson Tamar Sarkissian said in an email to members of the media.

Customers can look up their address online to find out if their location is being monitored for the potential safety shutoff here.

The potential shutoff is expected to start around 11 a.m. on Saturday, with winds continuing throughout the day. PG&E anticipates beginning patrols and restoring customers as early as Saturday evening.

PG&E said conditions may change following the distribution of this media alert which was Friday afternoon. PG&E’s in-house meteorologists, Emergency Operations Center, and Hazardous Awareness and Warning Center were continuing to monitor conditions closely.

"We will share additional customer notifications as conditions evolve," Sarkissian said, adding that PG&E representatives will make individual, in-person visits, when possible, to customers enrolled in the company’s Medical Baseline Program who do not verify they have received these important safety communications, with a primary focus on customers who rely on electricity for critical life-sustaining equipment.

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