The Pacific Gas & Electric Co. began cutting electricity Monday in three of 11 counties threatened by high fire danger — the first of the intentional outages occurred in the Sacramento Valley, but could increase across Northern California amid predictions of “unusual high’ temperatures. strong winds and dry conditions.
More than 5,000 homes and businesses have been affected in Glenn, Shasta and Butte counties, according to figures provided by PG&E to the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. The utility issued so-called Public Safety Power Shutoff warnings for 11 counties on Monday and Tuesday, including Colusa, Napa, Shasta and Tehama counties, among others.
As of 9:45 a.m., the outages classified as PSPS outages were:
If the shutdown extends, nearly 10,000 homes and businesses in these three provinces could be without power. PG&E customers can use the utility’s website to receive public safety power shutoff alerts for their area.
The areas that PG&E says could be affected Monday or Tuesday:
PG&E forecasters say the mix of gusty winds and low humidity Monday and Tuesday across the northern state, combined with dry vegetation, will mean increased fire conditions. These conditions should ease by midweek, PG&E forecasters said, as offshore winds diminish and no other strong wind events are expected heading into the weekend.
PG&E calls the power shutoffs when weather conditions such as high winds, extreme heat and low humidity or the National Weather Service’s red flag warning endanger power lines and other utilities, increasing the risk of wildfires.
This round of outages is the company’s third set of shutdowns this year.
The utility blamed equipment for causing wildfires
PG&E has imposed planned power shutoffs in recent years due to terrible wildfire weather. The utility’s equipment is blamed for causing some of the worst fires in state history, including the 2018 Camp Fire that destroyed Paradise, and PG&E Corp. has been found liable for billions of dollars worth of destruction.
The utility has been blamed for causing more than 30 wildfires since 2017, fires that destroyed more than 23,000 homes and businesses and killed more than 100 people.
Last year, the company designed two PSPS events from four possible scenarios it identified, according to filings with the California Public Utilities Commission. The events in late August and mid-September removed approximately 5,200 customers from the grid.
More information about the PSPS and how to receive alerts is available on the PG&E website.
