Living In The Dark In El Dorado Hills

EL DORADO HILLS (CBS13) — El Dorado Hills is just one area in the dark as a massive six-phase PG&E public safety power shutoff affecting over 940,000 customers across 36 counties has begun.

Surviving without light will be difficult for some residents.  Experts say those who didn't prepare could deal with hundreds of dollars of spoiled food.

This is the new reality for Mike Sheets and his family in El Dorado County.

"I had a generator after the first power outage," Sheets said. "But then I got more extension cords and stuff, you know, as time went on."

His power shut off at around 7 p.m. and he had to pull out the generator and connect a lot of wires to barely light up his home.

This is what life will be like for hundreds of thousands of residents fighting to save food from being spoiled and trying to create some normalcy as every outside their door is pitch black.

Out on the street, you could only see a few homes with a glimmer of light inside. And this is what it will be like for many people, especially those without generators, who are doing everything they can just to get by.

Many residents in areas affected by the shutoffs are banning together sharing resources to get through these outages.

This comes as PG&E will be opening several Customer Resource Centers around the state beginning at 8 a.m. on Sunday.