Updated 2:20 p.m. Wednesday
PG&E announced early Wednesday afternoon it had reduced the scope of its preemptive power shutoffs in Northern California, saying about 83,000 customers previously expected to lose power are no longer part of the planned blackout. Those customers are located in El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sierra and Yuba counties, as well as western Sonoma County.
The utility said it had already shut off power to about 48,000 customers, or at least 112,000 people, across 10 counties in parts of the North Bay and Sierra foothills Wednesday morning in an effort to keep its equipment from sparking wildfires amid gusty wind conditions and heightened fire danger.
The phased blackouts began at about 7 a.m. Wednesday in Napa, Solano and portions of Sonoma counties. Outside the Bay Area, the morning shutoffs were also phased in portions of Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Mendocino, Shasta, Tehama and Yolo counties.
PG&E said the only additional planned blackouts later in the day could affect 14,000 customers, or at least 32,000 people in Butte, Plumas and Tehama counties and additional parts of Yuba County.
The utility will begin restoring power following a weather “all clear,” which is expected at 8 a.m. Thursday for all counties, though the utility says some shutoffs could last 48 hours or more.
Winds are expected to pick up through the day as humidity drops across the region.
Sustained winds of more than 45 mph with gusts up to 73 mph were observed at a PG&E weather station on Mount St. Helena at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
NWS Bay Area on Twitter Mt St Helena has gusted to 71 mph in the past hour. While the RH is presently at 60%, they will drop off as temperatures warm and offshore winds continue. Link to observations: https://t.co/ns7xswdCon. Data courtesy of @PGE4Me. Red Flag Warning is in effect. #CAwx #CAfire
PG&E reduced the area â and the number of customers â affected by threatened blackouts Wednesday significantly from earlier estimates due to improving weather conditions.
On Monday, the utility said more than 303,000 customers might lose power.
Five Bay Area counties were removed from the potential shutoff list â Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo and Santa Clara.
PG&E said in a media briefing Tuesday it hopes to dramatically reduce the frequency, scale and scope of the power shutoffs.
âItâs our commitment, and weâre making that commitment very publicly, that next year we will not be in this situation. That weâll be able to protect the public in ways that aren’t as terribly disruptive as they are today,” said Andy Vesey, CEO of PG&E Co., the utility division of PG&E Corp.
The company’s equipment has been found responsible for starting several catastrophic fires, including last year’s Camp Fire, which killed 85 and destroyed about 14,000 homes in the Butte County city of Paradise and surrounding communities. The blaze was the deadliest and most destructive fire in state history.
Here are the number of customers, medical baseline customers, communities affected and anticipated power restoration date from PG&E, updated Wednesday at 7:30 a.m.
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