Public safety power shutoffs during NorCal heat wave affect over 2,000 customers
More than 2,000 Pacific Gas and Electric customers in Northern California began their day Wednesday without power after the utility turned off electricity to high fire-risk areas amid a prolonged heat wave.
PG&E said approximately 1,900 customers had their power turned off for public safety Tuesday evening after winds picked up in the Sacramento Valley and foothills. Those customers also had their power turned off Tuesday morning and were briefly restored after a break in the weather, the utility said.
As of 6:20 a.m. Wednesday, there were about 2,200 PG&E customers without power systemwide to reduce the risk of fires caused by electric infrastructure. The outages have impacted customers in the counties of Butte, Colusa, Lake, Napa, Solano, Sonoma, Tehama, and Yolo, as well as the tribal community of Cortina Rancheria.
For about 10,000 customers who received notices that their public safety outages were delayed, their power still has not been shut off as of Wednesday morning, PG&E said. At 1:27 p.m. Wednesday it issued a weather "all clear" for all areas impacted by the outages and said crews were assessing any damages and working to restore service.
The utility said all customers impacted by the public safety power shutoffs were expected to have service restored by Wednesday evening.
Eight community resource centers were open Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. for customers in the affected counties. The resource centers are equipped with restrooms, device charging, Wi-Fi, air conditioning, ice, bottled water, snacks and other supplies.
Customers were directed to visit the PG&E Outage Center website for the status of their power outages and the locations of community resource centers.,