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PG&E Restores Power to Estimated 738,000 Customers Affected by Shutoffs in the Bay Area

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. says all power has been restored to the nearly 2 million Northern California residents who lost electricity when the state’s largest utility switched it off this week in an effort to prevent wildfires.

KQED News on Twitter PG&E said that up to 800,000 customers would experience power outages from the #pgeshutdown. But for PG&E, “customers” = meters. In reality, the number of *people* affected could actually in the millions. By this calculation? Between 1.8 m & 2.4 m: https://t.co/6ZVHhcoQNe https://t.co/wurbDVavdh

The company announced on Twitter Saturday night that all of the estimated 738,000 customers have their power back. PG&E say about 6,300 personnel and 44 helicopters were used to inspect power lines and restore service.

PG&E on Twitter PSPS Update: All Customers Impacted by Safety Shutoffs Have Now Been Restored. https://t.co/uwCkbmbusD

PG&E cast the blackouts as a matter of public safety to prevent the kind of blazes that have killed scores of people over the past couple of years, destroyed thousands of homes, and ran up tens of billions of dollars in claims that drove the company into bankruptcy.

Copyright 2019 KQED