SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) will complete restoration today
for all remaining customers who had power proactively turned off for
safety in response to extreme weather conditions overnight Sunday. On
Monday, the company restored approximately 66 percent of impacted
customers across six counties.
Early Monday morning, weather conditions improved to allow PG&E crews to
begin safety inspections of lines to identify damage that occurred
overnight. Crews thoroughly inspected powerlines and equipment by
helicopter, in vehicles and on foot. After the inspections, PG&E safely
restored power to approximately 40,000 customers in the North Bay and
Sierra Foothills on Monday.
As crews complete the process of assessing damage and completing repairs
as a result of the weather event, PG&E will continue to proactively
communicate with customers, providing more detailed information about
expected restoration times.
To help reduce the risk of wildfire and keep our customers, their
families and their homes and businesses safe, the company on Sunday
night initiated a Public Safety Power Shutoff in the following extreme
fire-risk areas:
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North Bay (Lake, Napa and Sonoma counties)
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Sierra Foothills (Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado and Placer counties)
Approximately 60,000 PG&E customers were impacted by the power shut off.
PG&E had notified approximately 97,000 customers of the possibility that
power would be turned off, but conditions did not require all customers
to be impacted.
Overnight on Sunday, portions of the North Bay region experienced wind
speeds over 60 mph and wind gusts of up to 70 mph. In the Sierra, wind
speeds were lower at between 20-35 mph, but with gusts of up to 55 mph.
At the Kirkwood area high in the Sierra, wind speeds were recorded at 96
mph with gusts at 121 mph.
PG&E’s 24/7 Wildfire Safety Operations Center and our in-house
meteorologists had been monitoring the weather for several days leading
up the decision to turn off power for safety. The company factors in
whether the National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning, humidity
levels, projected sustained winds, temperature, condition of fuel on the
ground and on-the-ground observations.
Extreme weather threats can change quickly. Out of an abundance of
caution, PG&E began providing notice to customers in advance of this
safety event through automated phone calls, texts, social media and
emails on Saturday, Oct. 13.
As part of these preparedness efforts, PG&E has asked customers to:
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Learn whether their home or business is in or near a high fire-threat
area on the CPUC High Fire-Threat District map. Customers also can
visit pge.com/wildfiresafety to enter their address and find out if
their home or business is served by an electric line that may be
turned off for safety during high wildfire threats.
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Update their contact information at pge.com/mywildfirealerts or by
calling 1-866-743-6589 during normal business hours. PG&E will use
this information to alert customers in advance of turning off their
electric service for safety, when and where possible.
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Prepare for and practice an emergency plan to keep themselves, their
families and/or employees emergency-ready and safe during an outage.
Keep in mind family members who are elderly, younger children and
pets. Information and tips including a safety plan checklist are
available at pge.com/wildfiresafety
Public Safety Power Shutoff is part of PG&E’s comprehensive Community
Wildfire Safety Program to reduce wildfire risks and strengthen our
communities for the future.
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 energy companies 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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PG&E
Media Relations, 415-973-5930
Source: Pacific Gas and Electric Company