SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- As a historic winter storm begins to subside in Northern and Central California, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) crews continue to work around the clock to restore service for customers who have experienced storm-related outages this week.

PG&E pledges to its customers that it will remain focused on its work until all power is restored throughout its service territory and life can return to normal. Strong winds, falling trees and major flooding have damaged electrical equipment throughout the company's 70,000-mile service area. PG&E's meteorologists reported that wind gusts reached 95 mph in some higher elevations and rainfall totals exceeded several inches in many locations.

Since the storm hit Wednesday, Dec. 10, the utility has restored service to more than 400,000 customers who had lost power. As of 5:00 a.m. Friday, Dec. 12, about 34,000 customers were still without power. The utility estimates that power will be restored for almost all remaining customers by late Friday night.

As the storm continues to roll through Central California Friday, crews will continue working to restore new outages as fast as possible, but this work could stretch into Saturday depending on the scope of the area impacted and the severity of the weather.

PG&E has devoted 355 crews to the response effort, including contractors from Oregon, Washington and Southern California. In advance of the storm, PG&E utilized new tools from its meteorology department that helped pinpoint the timing and severity of potential outages. At the same time, innovations such as self-healing circuits and new facilities such as the recently opened Electric Distribution Control Center in Fresno contributed to PG&E's rapid restoration response. 

"We appreciate our customers' patience during this significant storm system and we're committed to restoring power for all of our customers safely and as quickly as possible," said Geisha Williams, executive vice president of Electric Operations at PG&E. "Across our entire service area from Eureka to Bakersfield, our dedicated crews have been working in heavy rain, strong wind, and snow to restore power."

Shelters for customers experiencing extended power outages have been set up at the Guerneville Veterans Building, Santa Rosa Veterans Building, and the Petaluma Veterans Building, courtesy of the County of Sonoma and the local chapter of the American Red Cross.

For the latest information on power outages and restoration updates, visit www.pge.com from your mobile device or desktop, or call 1-800-743-5002. Customers can also visit PG&E's Twitter feed at http://www.twitter.com/pge4me and PG&E's Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pacificgasandelectric.

PG&E offers these tips to help customers stay safe during the storm:

• Always treat low hanging and downed power lines as if they are energized and extremely dangerous. Keep yourself and others away from them. Be aware that trees, pools of water and other objects may be in contact with power lines. If you see damaged power lines or electrical equipment, call 911 immediately and then notify PG&E at 1-800-743-5002.

• During a power outage, use battery-operated flashlights, and not candles, due to the risk of fire. If you must use candles, please keep them away from drapes, lampshades, holiday trees and small children. Do not leave candles unattended.

• Customers with generators should make sure they are properly installed by a licensed electrician in a well-ventilated area. Improperly installed generators pose a significant danger to crews working on power lines.

• If you experience an outage, unplug or turn off all electrical appliances to avoid overloading circuits and to prevent fire hazards when power is restored. Simply leave a single lamp on to alert you when power returns. Turn your appliances back on one at a time when conditions return to normal.

About PG&E

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric utilities in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with more than 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation's cleanest energy to nearly 16 million people in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com/ and www.pge.com/en/about/newsroom/index.page.

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SOURCE Pacific Gas and Electric Company