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PG&E Supporting First Responders on Three Major Wildfires, Assessing Impacts to Portions of the Electric Grid

09/13/2015

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Crews from Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) worked through the weekend to support first responders including CAL FIRE on three major wildfires in Northern and Central California. The company is also assessing impacts to portions of the electric grid damaged by these active fires.

There are approximately 12,800 customers without power, and many of those are under mandatory evacuation from their homes and businesses. Assessment and restoration times are being impacted by the ability to safely access local affected areas. The company is not able to provide an estimated time of restoration to all affected customers at this time. The three fires are:

  • The Valley Fire, burning in Lake County, about 100 miles north of San Francisco, has engulfed more than 50,000 acres. The fire has impacted PG&E infrastructure in the burn area, causing a disruption in service to 7,100 PG&E customers. The Valley Fire is the newest of three major fires in PG&E’s service area.
  • The Butte Fire, which has raged in Amador and Calaveras counties since Wednesday, has burned more than 65,000 acres and is just 20 percent contained. The Butte Fire has damaged PG&E power lines and poles, causing power outages to approximately 5,600 customers. The utility was able to restore power to 5,000 customers in Pine Grove by providing temporary generation. PG&E now projects to restore power to affected customers later this week, although this is dependent on variables including the treacherous terrain and the movement of the fire.
  • The Rough Fire has burned 130,000 acres in Fresno County. Although it had been considered relatively contained at 31 percent, the fire gained momentum over the weekend and now has the potential to threaten inhabited regions. PG&E continues to be engaged in the Rough Fire and its potential to affect customers. Currently, there are 65 customers without power in areas that are under mandatory evacuation orders from fire officials.

“The safety of our customers, our employees and the first responders is our highest priority as we work together with CAL FIRE and local agencies to assess our systems and help our communities and customers get back on their feet. Our crews have been in these areas since the beginning, and we will be there for the duration,” said Barry Anderson, PG&E vice president, Emergency Preparedness and Operations.

PG&E crews have gained limited access to the Valley, Butte and Rough fire areas, performing damage assessments and repairs where possible. More than 500 PG&E personnel are involved in battling these outages, with additional emergency repair crews steadily arriving.

For information on outages, customers can call PG&E’s automated line at 1-800-PGE-5002. Updates are also available through the following online channels: an outage map at http://www.pge.com/outages; 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 is also providing automated update calls to customers in affected areas.

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

Pacific Gas and Electric Company

Keith Stephens, 415-973-5930

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