Current PSPS Update: Restoration to Continue Friday Morning with a Goal of Restoring Power to Essentially All 31,000 Customers by the End of the Day

Rhea-AI Summary

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PCG) plans to restore power by late Friday (Oct. 23) to nearly all 31,000 customers affected by the Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) initiated on Oct. 21 due to high winds raising wildfire risks. PG&E has reduced the initial customer impact by 16%, bringing total outages down to about 8,000. Crews are conducting inspections to ensure safety before re-energizing lines. Additionally, PG&E is preparing for another potential PSPS event starting Sunday (Oct. 24) and has opened 13 Community Resource Centers for affected residents.

Positive

• About 74% of customers impacted by the PSPS have had their power restored, indicating effective response.
• PG&E successfully reduced the customer impact by 16%, mitigating the outage scope.
• Community Resource Centers (CRCs) are open to support customers, enhancing community assistance.

Negative

• Potential for another PSPS event on Oct. 24 raises concerns of recurring power outages.
• Approximately 8,000 customers remain without power as of the latest update.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--By late Friday (Oct. 23), Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) expects to restore power to essentially all the 31,000 PG&E customers in seven counties who are affected by the Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) that began on Wednesday (Oct. 21).

PG&E turned off the power to these customers, the majority living in Shasta, Butte and Tehama counties, to protect their safety and the safety of their communities because of strong, windy weather that elevated the risk of wildfires in Northern and Central California. Due to changing weather conditions Wednesday evening, PG&E was able to decrease customer impact by another 16% than previously estimated, removing about 6,000 customers and eight counties from the scope.

PG&E meteorologists forecast that the strongest winds will subside Friday morning, enabling crews to begin patrolling power lines (by air, vehicle and on foot) to ensure that no damage or hazards exist before those lines can be re-energized and those customers restored. PG&E expects all customers who can receive service will be back in power by 10 p.m. Friday.

Meanwhile, PG&E meteorologists are monitoring an additional potential wind event due to arrive Sunday. Although it’s still three days away and weather conditions can rapidly change, it has the potential to be a larger scale event than the PSPS event that began Wednesday, Oct. 21. Tomorrow, the company plans to begin notifications two days in advance of the event for potentially impacted customers indicating the possibility of another power shutoff for safety Sunday morning.

“Our crews have been patrolling lines in helicopters, in vehicles, and on foot today and will continue into Friday in order to safely restore customers’ power as soon as possible. We know that being without power represents a hardship, especially for customers who might have to lose power a second time within a week. We are making every effort to restore power by Friday at latest so that our customers can run their appliances, recharge their devices and do what’s needed before the power potentially goes off again on Sunday morning,” said Mark Quinlan, a PG&E senior director and incident commander for the PSPS events.

Here are some updates related to the two PSPS events:

Current Oct. 21-23 Public Safety Power Shutoff

The PSPS that began Wednesday evening remains in place for some customers and PG&E is continuing to monitor conditions across the de-energized areas.

The top three recorded wind gust speeds by noon today were 56, 52 and 45 miles per hour. in Shasta, Butte and Yolo counties respectively, with humidity and fuel moisture levels remaining low.

Crews have already restored power to about 74 percent of customers affected by the Oct. 21 PSPS, with about 8,000 customers remaining as of 7:30 p.m.

Community Resource Centers

To support our customers, beginning Wednesday, PG&E planned to open 20 Community Resource Centers (CRCs) that operate from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. through the current PSPS event. However, seven of these locations were cancelled last night after the weather risk lessened and those areas were removed from the event scope as they did not have to be de-energized. An additional CRC closed once all customers in Glenn County were restored this evening. Thirteen temporary CRCs are now open to customers when power is out at their homes and provide ADA-accessible restrooms, hand-washing stations, medical-equipment charging, Wi-Fi; bottled water, grab-and-go bags and non-perishable snacks.

PG&E will also open CRCs for affected customers should the potential Oct. 24-26 PSPS come to fruition.

For updates on the CRCs, check here.

Potential Future Oct. 24-26 Public Safety Power Shutoff

PG&E meteorology is tracking and forecasting a potential PSPS event encompassing areas and adjacent terrain of the northern and western Sacramento Valley, Northern and Central Sierra, higher terrain of the Bay Area, the Santa Cruz Mountains, Central Coast Region and portions of southern Kern.

Support for Customers with Medical Needs

In order to support customers during both PSPS events, PG&E is also partnering with 30 community-based organizations (CBOs) to assist customers with medical, financial, language and aging needs before, during and after PSPS events. These activities include:

• Collaborating with the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers (CFILC) through a grant program to support the Access and Functional Needs (AFN) community. This support for customers with medical and independent living needs includes:
  • Enabling qualifying customers who use electrical medical devices to access backup portable batteries
  • Emergency preparedness outreach and education
  • Promotion of Medical Baseline Program
  • Accessible transportation resources
  • Hotel stays
  • Food stipends
• Working with nine food banks and 10 local Meals on Wheels chapters.
• Expanding availability of materials in American Sign Language (ASL).
• Establishing an advisory group to help create solutions for emergency preparedness for customers with medical needs.

Details about these resources are at our website at pge.com/disabilityandaging.

So far in 2020, more than 1,000 portable batteries have been provided to vulnerable customers via the CFILC’s Disability Disaster Access and Resources Program and through PG&E’s Portable Battery Program.

Here’s Where to Go to Learn More

• PG&E’s emergency website pge.com/pspsupdates is now available in 13 languages. Currently, the website is available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Russian, Vietnamese, Korean, Farsi, Arabic, Hmong, Khmer, Punjabi and Japanese. Customers will have the opportunity to choose their language of preference for viewing the information when visiting the website. In addition, PG&E’s contact center has translation services available in over 200 languages. Customers who need in-language support over the phone can contact us by calling 1-833-208-4167.
• For additional language support services including how to set language preference, select options for obtaining translated notifications, and receive other translated resources on PSPS, customers can visit pge.com/pspslanguagehelp. This website is also available in 13 languages as listed above.
• Customers are encouraged to update their contact information and indicate their preferred language for notifications by visiting pge.com/mywildfirealerts or by calling 1-800-743-5000. PG&E’s contact center has translation services available in over 200 languages.
• Tenants and non-account holders can sign up to receive PSPS ZIP Code Alerts for any area where you do not have a PG&E account by visiting pge.com/pspszipcodealerts.
• PG&E has launched a new tool at its online Safety Action Center at safetyactioncenter.pge.com to help customers prepare. By using the "Make Your Own Emergency Plan" tool and answering a few short questions, visitors to the website can compile and organize the important information needed for a personalized family emergency plan.

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 pge.com and pge.com/news.