Thousands of PG&E customers removed from potential power safety shutoff on Saturday
STOCKTON – About 16,000 Pacific Gas and Electric customers, mainly in California's Central Valley, were warned that they may lose power in a Public Safety Power Shutoff event on Saturday due to high winds and dry conditions, PG&E announced Friday afternoon.
However, on Saturday, PG&E said about 15,000 customers were removed from the potential event due to improvement in weather conditions.
As of about 4 p.m. on Saturday, PG&E said about 220 customers were without power in Alameda, Contra Costa and San Joaquin counties. The utility companies expect to be in the "all clear" around 8 p.m. Saturday, in which crews will begin patrols to assess for any damage and make necessary repairs.
Customers were told they could lose power at about 11 a.m. due to the potential of high winds, combined with dry vegetation and low humidity.
The majority of the customers notified were from San Joaquin County and Stanislaus County.
In San Joaquin County, more than 6,300 customers were notified about the potential outage. According to PG&E's outage map, most of the customers that could have been impacted were south of Tracy, near the Tracy Municipal Airport and along S. Corral Hollow Road, near where the Corral Fire burned earlier this year.
As for Stanislaus County, the nearly 5,000 customers who could have lost power were in the southern portion of the county, near Newman. Almost 4,000 customers in nearby Merced County, in the Gustine area, were also given a warning about the potential outage.
However, late Friday night, Stanislaus County said officials have called off the potential for a shutoff due to an update in the forecast.
PG&E said 163 customers in Alameda County, 328 customers in Contra Costa County, 3,979 customers in San Benito County and three customers in Fresno County may have been impacted.