PG&E Says Approx. 1,400 Customers Still In The Dark Following Oct. 29 PSPS
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — PG&E announced Thursday evening that they have restored power to approximately 363,600 customers affected by the October 29 public safety power shutoffs.
As of 9 p.m., the utility said 1,400 customers remained without power. Approximately 800 of those customers are in locations where damage to the infrastructure will require repairs on Friday.
Additionally, PG&E 1,200 customers affected by the Kincade Fire are without power because of the wildfire, not the PSPS event.
#PSPS Update: PG&E Restores Essentially All Customers Following System-Wide Historic and Widespread Wind Events https://t.co/zmIFBMqFIW pic.twitter.com/8VdBR5R4dF
— Pacific Gas & Electric (@PGE4Me) November 1, 2019
You can check the current outages here.
Swipe through photos from inside PG&E's Wildfire Safety Operations Center
According to PG&E, crews have already found 156 instances of damage or other hazards to their electric system as of Thursday morning. In a separate filing about the Oct. 9 PSPS event, the utility noted 118 instances of damage to their lines, caused by vegetation and wind. That included 44 instances that would have likely caused arcing if the lines were energized and 12 other cases where fires could have been started by PG&E equipment that broke in the wind.
READ MORE: PG&E Reveals 118 Instances Of Wind, Tree Damage From Oct. 9 Power Shutoff
Additionally, PG&E said 1,857 customers are without electricity and approximately 25,000 customers without gas service within the area of the Kincade Fire. The company said those customers will remain without service until restorations are deemed safe.
PG&E warns customers to not attempt to turn their own gas back on.
PG&E announced it will be providing a $100 credit to residential customers and $250 credit to businesses impacted by the Oct. 9 shutoff, which impacted approximately 738,000 customers. The company said it is sending reimbursements for the specific event "due to the hardship caused by the website and communications issues," not because of political pressure.
"We recognize our execution in these areas fell short of expectations, and we have taken steps to reduce those issues going forward...This is not an industry-standard practice, nor approved as part of a tariff, but we believe it is the right thing to do for our customers in this case, given the challenges with our website and call center communications," the company said.
There is no indication at this time that PG&E will provide further credits to customers for the following PSPS events.