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Electric Service Restored to All Customers Affected by Wednesday’s Public Safety Power Shutoff Event

09/26/2019

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has restored power to all customers affected by the Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) initiated on Wednesday, Sept. 25. PG&E had proactively shut down power for safety at approximately 2:30 a.m. in the Sierra Foothills and at approximately 4:30 a.m. in the North Bay, affecting a total of 48,200 customers.

Once the weather subsided Wednesday afternoon, hundreds of PG&E personnel and aerial resources responded for inspections, repairs and restoration. PG&E crews visually inspected approximately 2,785 miles of power lines to ensure they were free from damage and safe to energize. Inspections can only take place during daylight hours, and PG&E was able to restore power to all customers less than 24 hours after the dry and windy weather had passed. During inspections, crews found instances of damage to de-energized equipment caused by the weather and made necessary repairs.

Customers in the following counties were impacted during this PSPS: Butte, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sonoma and Yuba. The PSPS event was activated based on forecasts of dry, hot and windy weather including potential fire risk.

Now that power has been restored, PG&E’s Community Resource Centers are closing. The centers were opened in various communities to provide restrooms, bottled water, electronic-device charging and air-conditioned seating during daylight hours.

“We know how much our customers rely on electric service, and we really appreciate our communities’ understanding as we turned off power for safety this week. We ask that all of our customers use this event as a reminder to revisit their emergency plans and build or restock their emergency kits to prepare for emergencies during wildfire season and beyond,” said Michael Lewis, senior vice president of Electric Operations, PG&E. “The safety of our customers and the communities we serve is our most important responsibility, and with each Public Safety Power Shutoff, we work to further refine the processes we’ve developed to keep people safe and restore power as quickly as possible.”

Monday’s PSPS event

Earlier in the week, PG&E turned off power for safety the evening of Monday, Sept. 23, in portions of Butte, Nevada and Yuba counties due to weather conditions, impacting about 24,000 customers. Essentially all customers affected by Monday’s PSPS were restored by 6 p.m. Tuesday.

How customers can prepare

As part of PSPS preparedness efforts, PG&E is asking customers to:

  • 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 through automated calls, texts, and emails, when possible, prior to, and during, a Public Safety Power Shutoff.
  • Plan for medical needs like medications that require refrigeration or devices that need power.
  • Identify backup charging methods for phones and keep hard copies of emergency numbers.
  • Build or restock your emergency kit with flashlights, fresh batteries, first aid supplies and cash.
  • 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.

While customers in high fire-threat areas are more likely to be affected by a Public Safety Power Shutoff event, any of PG&E’s more than 5 million electric customers could have their power shut off because the energy system relies on power lines working together to provide electricity across cities, counties and regions.

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 16 million people in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com and www.pge.com/news.

Media Relations:
415-973-5930

Source: Pacific Gas and Electric Company

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