Some Yolo, Solano homes may see PG&E power shutoffs Tuesday to reduce wildfire risk
YOLO COUNTY -- For the first time this season, Pacific Gas and Electric (PD&E) has warned about 12,000 customers across ten Northern California counties to prepare for possible Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) starting as soon as the early morning hours Tuesday to reduce wildfire risk.
Of those customers, several hundred impacted homes are in rural Yolo and Solano Counties in the greater Sacramento area.
Outside the region, Shasta and Tehama County customers make up more than 10,000 of what PG&E calls "likely" planned outages. Other impacted counties include Colusa, Glenn, Lake and Napa.
"PG&E uses this as the last resort only when extreme conditions may cause possible wildfires including a heat wave, red flag warning, low humidity levels as well as high winds that can bring trees down and branches that come in contact with power lines," said Evelyn Escalera, PG&E spokesperson.
The heat wave rocking the region Monday introduced 100-degree-plus high temperatures that won't budge for more than a week.
"It's horrible. Blistering. Sometimes unbearable," said Lori Kelly, a neighbor of Woodland.
Pupusas y Mas food truck in Davis told CBS13 that they're working to keep employees from overheating.
"We try to keep our workers with ice and ice water. We take turns cooking because it's really hot," a food truck worker said. "It's been really, really busy. You'd be surprised. Nobody wants to cook in this heat."
PG&E says the forecast their team has been tracking for this week's heat wave coupled with high wind is a bad recipe for fire danger. That's why notices were sent to customers who could see their power cut.
"We don't make that decision lightly. It's a very important decision. We understand the difficulties that cutting power poses to our customers," Escalera said.
The utility company wants those impacted customers to be prepared with extra water, gas for generators and to be equipped with a plan for what they will do and where they will go to escape the heat if they lose power.
"We give them some time to plan whether they will spend time at home, if they have generators set those up, if maybe they have to go somewhere else during that time," Escalera said.
It's a reminder too that anyone can be hit by heat-related power outages that are not planned.
PG&E said cooling centers will be opened Tuesday near impacted areas if the possible planned outages take effect.
"I worry about elderly people, people with oxygen machines or other machines they need power for, people with babies or small children. I'm OK. I'm not affected right at this point but I worry about those people," said Kelly.
So how does PG&E choose where to shut off power?
"Our meteorology department determines what areas may see those higher risks including high winds, where there's low humidity levels, dry grasses and that are near our power lines. It's a very targeted approach that we take to making that decision of which customers may be impacted," Escalera said.
Customers who have not heard from PG&E about the planned shutoffs starting Tuesday should be in the clear.
