Possible PG&E power shutoffs cancelled for all Bay Area counties amid heat wave
Possible planned power outages due to the current heat wave roasting Northern California were called off for customers in Contra Costa, Alameda, Sonoma and Napa counties, PG&E officials confirmed late Tuesday morning.
PG&E spokesperson Tamar Sarkissian told CBS News Bay Area that, while temperatures were still high across the region, winds have calmed enough to reduce the current fire risk and eliminate the need for any outages in the greater Bay Area. The update included the small area of Napa that might still have been impacted as of Monday night.
The announcement comes after PG&E issued a Monday evening update that cancelled the possible planned power outages for customers in Contra Costa, Alameda and Sonoma counties and most of Napa County.
The Public Safety Power Shutoff or PSPS were planned to reduce potential wildfire danger from power lines during the hot spell. While the outages won't go into effect for the customers in the East Bay and North Bay counties who were alerted, officials said around 140 customers north of Calistoga in Napa County could still have their power shut off.
Officials also noted that outages were still possible on Tuesday for the areas that were not impacted Monday night. PG&E had warned more than 13,000 customers across 13 counties their power could be cut, including Alameda, Contra Costa, Napa and counties.
Several thousand Pacific Gas and Electric customers lost power Monday morning because of planned Public Safety Power Shutoffs in high-risk fire areas of Butte, Shasta, Tehama and Colusa counties.
Check for outages in your area: PG&E power outage map
The National Weather Service said Monday that wind gusts were possible at higher elevations across the Bay Area, Central Coast and Central Valley.
KPIX First Alert Weather: Current conditions, alerts, maps for your area
Shasta County had the most of the initial power outages Monday with 7,709 customers losing electricity in a region where high temperatures Monday were expected to range from 97 to 106 degrees.
"So that rock that jets out up there, that rock is called Table Rock," explained Napa County resident John Theobald. "I think they've gone triple digits before, but they've got at least 80-90 miles an hour during one of these wind events. So this is just a brutal area for it, in particular right here in the vicinity of Calistoga."
Theobald lives in the hills just above Calistoga where PG&E announced the possible power deactivations. But that is just one safety precaution in effect for this part of Napa County.
"If you look at this gap right here, this area right here looked just like that," Theobald said, pointing to some nearby trees. "It was that thick and dense underneath with all the underbrush. Turn around and look behind us up here you can notice those are not wooden poles. Those are fire resistant poles. So they've done a lot of different things."
All of it driven by this area's frequent winds, and in recent years frequent fires.
"We have had a slew of them," Theobald added. "Really, it's been an incredible decade."
"Tubbs Fire started right here," said neighbor Jim Knighton. "Glass Fire 2020, came right through here devastating the whole area. So...a lot of us put in alternative sources in order to cover ourselves just for this contingency."
"Well, PG&E communicates pretty well what they're going to do, so we know about it " Theobald added. "I think we all think about fire so much more now given what's happened."
A lot of locals will tell you the shutoffs are a bit like the areas cleared along the lines; just part of the landscape here now.
"It's supposed to be 105," Theobald said. "You just hope it's not too windy."
The possible outages are nothing like the region saw in 2019 when PG&E first started the program with much wider PSPS events.
PG&E put a lot of time and resources into making the grid more precise so when they turn the power off, they can do it in more exact locations affecting fewer people.
Wilson Walker contributed to this report.