Restoration begins after 2,000 PG&E customers had power cut to guard against California wildfires

See the latest: Second day of PG&E public safety power shutoffs in California

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Pacific Gas and Electric Co. was working to restore power Tuesday evening to nearly 2,000 customers after the utility severed homes and businesses across Northern California to stave off wildfires and protect its equipment amid hot, dry and windy conditions.

By 5 p.m., the utility said it had already restored power to 1,400 ratepayers after it engineered its first public safety power shutoff of the year around 12:30 a.m. in eight of the 10 Northern California counties that PG&E said could be affected by the so-called PSPS outages.

“As weather conditions improved, PG&E crews began inspecting equipment for potential weather-related damage,” said PG&E spokesman Paul Moreno. “Where equipment was safe to energize, we restored power to approximately 1,400 customers impacted by the PSPS. At 6:30 p.m., roughly 450 customers were still out of power, and PG&E said restoration efforts would continue through the evening.

“However, if wildfire conditions worsen, power may need to be turned off overnight for these and other customers in the scope of this PSPS event.”

Tuesday’s conditions were fairer than predicted

The favorable conditions helped PG&E keep as many as 10,000 homes and businesses along the western tier of the Sacramento Valley and in the Butte County foothills from being severed from the grid. Homes in the North Bay region were also largely spared from the potential PSPS after meteorologists warned of extreme fire conditions in the Oakland-based utility’s territory.

At its height, 1,986 homes and businesses were shut off in the effort, which PG&E officials stressed was an effort of last resort.

In its Tuesday weather update, the utility’s forecasters were particularly concerned about wind gusts in Butte County, through the North Bay regions and along the western tier of the Sacramento Valley. PG&E meteorologists said gusts had topped 63 mph in Sonoma County with lesser winds in Napa (42 mph). Winds more than 100 miles away in Butte County topped 49 mph after midnight and strong gusts were observed in Colusa County (47 mph) and Solano County (40).

“The winds are expected to taper off near mid-day into the evening,” forecasters said in the morning briefing. “Before a second period of wind risk re-develops overnight tonight from midnight through 10 a.m. Wednesday.”

Officials did not rule out another PSPS on Wednesday if conditions returned.

“We continue to monitor the situation to determine if a shutoff is necessary for safety,” Moreno said. “We are sending all of these customers regular updates so they can prepare accordingly.”

PG&E officials stressed the need to inspect lines and replace equipment as crews methodically worked the areas affected by the PSPS. Restoring power to affected customers can take 12 daylight hours or more, depending on conditions.

PG&E said it opened several “community resource centers” Tuesday in areas that lost power or were threatened by the PSPS, enabling customers to cool off in the air conditioning, get free bottled water and snacks and charge their phones.

Those centers would be open 8 a.m.-10 p.m. at the following locations:

• Twin Pine Casino and Hotel: 22223 Highway 29, Middletown

• Concow Elementary School: 11679 Nelson Bar Road, Concow

• Stonyford Community Hall: 229 Market St., Stonyford

• Elk Creek Junior Senior High School: 3430 County Road 309, Elk Creek

• Rancho Tehama Association: 17605 Park Terrace Road, Corning

• Noland Park: 19001 Bowman Road, Cottonwood

• Happy Valley Community Center: 5400 Happy Valley Road: Anderson

• Dignity Health Mercy Oaks: 100 Mercy Oaks Drive, Redding

Utility blamed equipment sparking wildfires

PG&E in recent years has imposed planned power shutoffs in the face of dire wildfire weather. The utility company’s equipment has been blamed for sparking some of the worst fires in state history, including the 2018 Camp Fire that devastated Paradise, and PG&E Corp. has been found liable for billions of dollars worth of destruction.

The utility since 2017 has been blamed for starting more than 30 wildfires, blazes that destroyed more than 23,000 homes and businesses and has killed more than 100 people.

Last year, the company engineered two PSPS events out of four possible scenarios the company identified, according to company filings to the California Public Utilities Commission. The late August and mid-September events took roughly 5,200 customers off the grid.

Downtown Sacramento topped out at 106 degrees, three degrees shy of the all-time record for the day set a year ago but some spots, such as Redding, were 108 degrees or hotter on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

Hotter temperatures are expected Wednesday during the heat wave that’s predicted to last through Sunday.

Sweltering conditions can lead to sagging power lines and overheated transformers, creating concerns for utilities like PG&E and others not affected by the shutoffs, such as the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and city-owned providers such as Roseville Electric.

More information on the PSPS and how to get alerts are available on PG&E website.