High winds forecasted for Wednesday; power shutoffs "likely" for parts of several NorCal counties
YOLO COUNTY – Pacific Gas & Electric Company is forecasting high winds for several Northern California counties that could lead to power shutoffs on Wednesday.
The utility company updated its Public Safety Power Shutoff watch on Monday.
Of particular concern are high winds that are in the forecast for parts of the region later in the week. Coupled with dry conditions, PG&E's watch page noted that shutoffs would be likely.
Seven counties are currently listed as possibly affected: Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Napa, Shasta, Tehama, and Yolo.
PG&E says specific addresses and shutoff details will be available soon. Officials with the utility clarified that a shutoff has still not been called and no customers have been notified as of Monday.
Public Safety Power Shutoffs were implemented by PG&E and other California utilities in the wake of destructive wildfires, like the deadly 2018 Camp Fire, blamed on power lines.
Several criteria need to be met before PG&E considers shutting off power preemptively: low humidity levels, high winds, a Red Flag warning, real-time ground observations, and vegetation conditions.
It's been about two years since the last Public Safety Power Shutoff, PG&E says.
"We often have switches, and have installed more, so we can pinpoint what areas need to be shut off," said PG&E spokesperson Paul Moreno.
Moreno said improvements to the PSPS watch have been made since it was created in 2019. Additional switches on the circuit allow PG&E to pinpoint where power is shut off. There have also been advancements in weather modeling and additional weather centers added to better forecast weather events.
