Due to Highest Winds and Driest Conditions of the Season, PG&E Will Turn Off Power for Safety to Approximately 361,000 Customers in Targeted Parts of 36 Counties and 17 Tribal Communities

Rhea-AI Summary

Pacific Gas and Electric (PCG) initiated a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) due to forecasted high winds and low humidity, affecting approximately 361,000 customers across 36 counties. The shutoff began on October 25, starting with the Northern Sierra region, and will continue into the evening of October 26. Notably, about 105,000 customers will remain energized due to favorable weather changes and other methods. PG&E plans to restore power within 12 daylight hours post-event.

Positive

• Approximately 105,000 customers will remain powered due to favorable weather changes.
• PG&E aims to restore power within 12 daylight hours after the severe weather.

Negative

• A total of 361,000 customers will experience power shutoffs, raising concerns over access to essential services.
• The PSPS could disrupt services for Medical Baseline customers reliant on power for health needs.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) will de-energize certain electrical lines for safety starting this morning (Sunday, Oct. 25) as part of a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS). PG&E is calling a PSPS due to a significant, offshore wind event starting Sunday that is forecast to have the driest humidity levels and the strongest winds of the wildfire season thus far, that together create high risk of catastrophic wildfires.

The PSPS event will affect approximately 361,000 customers in targeted portions of 36 counties, including: Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Kern, Lake, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne, Yolo and Yuba. Some customers in 17 tribal communities will also be affected.

Some customers previously notified about the potential PSPS will not have their power turned off during this event. This is due to a combination of favorable changes in the weather forecast. Approximately 105,000 customers will not be turned off for this reason. Additionally, another 84,000 will remain energized through the event due to islanding, temporary generation, and other methods.

Affected Counties and Customers

Below is a list of customers who could potentially be affected by this PSPS event.

• Alameda County: 16,329 customers, 795 Medical Baseline customers
• Alpine County: 575 customers, 6 Medical Baseline customers
• Amador County: 10,398 customers, 805 Medical Baseline customers
• Butte County: 13,066 customers, 1,160 Medical Baseline customers
• Calaveras County: 15,694 customers, 729 Medical Baseline customers
• Colusa County: 565 customers, 32 Medical Baseline customers
• Contra Costa County: 17,966 customers, 883 Medical Baseline customers
• El Dorado County: 38,462 customers, 2,681 Medical Baseline customers
• Fresno County: 4,712 customers, 408 Medical Baseline customers
• Glenn County: 377 customers, 18 Medical Baseline customers
• Humboldt County: 7,143 customers, 239 Medical Baseline customers
• Kern County: 627 customers, 32 Medical Baseline customers
• Lake County: 21,621 customers, 1,572 Medical Baseline customers
• Madera County: 10,792 customers, 858 Medical Baseline customers
• Marin County: 13,809 customers, 443 Medical Baseline customers
• Mariposa County: 703 customers, 14 Medical Baseline customers
• Mendocino County: 648 customers, 14 Medical Baseline customers
• Napa County: 11,026 customers, 393 Medical Baseline customers
• Nevada County: 40,246 customers, 2,445 Medical Baseline customers
• Placer County: 17,017 customers, 1,060 Medical Baseline customers
• Plumas County: 3,168 customers, 167 Medical Baseline customers
• San Joaquin County: 10 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
• San Mateo County: 3,671 customers, 93 Medical Baseline customers
• Santa Clara County: 4,182 customers, 205 Medical Baseline customers
• Santa Cruz County: 13,872 customers, 955 Medical Baseline customers
• Shasta County: 24,746 customers, 1,967 Medical Baseline customers
• Sierra County: 1,101 customers, 24 Medical Baseline customers
• Siskiyou County: 57 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
• Solano County: 1,597 customers, 96 Medical Baseline customers
• Sonoma County: 23,464 customers, 1,164 Medical Baseline customers
• Stanislaus County: 35 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
• Tehama County: 6,470 customers, 544 Medical Baseline customers
• Trinity County: 1,376 customers, 74 Medical Baseline customers
• Tuolumne County: 30,327 customers, 2,220 Medical Baseline customers
• Yolo County: 165 customers, 4 Medical Baseline customers
• Yuba County: 4,666 customers, 365 Medical Baseline customers

• Total*: 360,687 customers, 22,465 Medical Baseline customers

*The following Tribal Community counts are included within the County level detail above.

• Big Sandy Rancheria Tribal Community: 61 customers, 2 Medical Baseline customers
• Cold Springs Rancheria of Mono Indians Tribal Community: 54 customers, 5 Medical Baseline customers
• Cortina Rancheria Tribal Community: 8 customers, 1 Medical Baseline customers
• Dry Creek Rancheria Tribal Community: 8 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
• Grindstone Rancheria Tribal Community: 49 customers, 3 Medical Baseline customers
• Hoopa Valley Tribe Tribal Community: 1062 customers, 56 Medical Baseline customers
• Jackson Rancheria Tribal Community: 28 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
• Karuk Tribe Tribal Community: 42 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
• Middletown Rancheria Tribal Community: 33 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
• North Fork Rancheria Tribal Community: 25 customers, 3 Medical Baseline customers
• Pit River Tribes Tribal Community: 8 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
• Robinson Rancheria Tribal Community: 96 customers, 4 Medical Baseline customers
• Shingle Springs Rancheria Tribal Community: 49 customers, 2 Medical Baseline customers
• Stewarts Point Rancheria (Kashaya Pomo) Tribal Community: 22 customers, 2 Medical Baseline customers
• Tuolumne Rancheria Tribal Community: 112 customers, 6 Medical Baseline customers
• Upper Lake Rancheria Tribal Community: 28 customers, 2 Medical Baseline customers
• Yurok Tribe Tribal Community: 87 customers, 4 Medical Baseline customers

Timeline for Safety Shutoffs

The de-energization will begin around 10 a.m. Sunday morning, beginning with customers in the Northern Sierra region. Shutoffs will continue through Monday into late evening.

Weather is expected to subside Monday morning for the majority of customers, and by Tuesday morning for the remainder. Once it does and it is safe to do so, PG&E will patrol the de-energized lines to determine if they were damaged during the wind event and repair any damage found. PG&E will then safely restore power in stages and as quickly as possible, with the goal of restoring power to nearly all customers within 12 daylight hours after severe weather has passed.

Resource for customers

Customer notifications

Customer notifications—via text, email and automated phone call—began Friday, Oct. 23, approximately two days prior to the potential shutoff. Additional notifications one day prior to the event took place Saturday, Oct. 24. Customers enrolled in the company’s Medical Baseline program who do not verify that they have received these important safety communications will be individually visited by a PG&E employee with a knock on their door when possible with a focus on customers who rely on electricity for critical life-sustaining equipment.

Community Resource Centers

To support our customers during this PSPS, PG&E will open 106 Community Resource Centers (CRCs). For customers with power turning off Sunday morning, CRCs will be open from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. today. All CRCs will operate from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. throughout the event. These temporary CRCs will be open to customers when power is out at their homes and will provide ADA-accessible restrooms, hand-washing stations, medical-equipment charging, WiFi; bottled water, grab-and-go bags and non-perishable snacks.

PG&E updates its CRC locations regularly. To find CRC locations, visit pge.com/crc.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, all CRCs will follow important health and safety protocols including:

• Facial coverings and maintaining a physical distance of at least six feet from those who are not part of the same household will be required at all CRCs.
• Temperature checks will be administered before entering CRCs that are located indoors.
• CRC staff will be trained in COVID-19 precautions and will regularly sanitize surfaces and use Plexiglass barriers at check-in.
• All CRCs will follow county and state requirements regarding COVID-19, including limits on the number of customers permitted indoors at any time.

Besides these health protocols, customers visiting a CRC in 2020 will experience further changes, including a different look and feel. In addition to using existing indoor facilities, PG&E is planning to open CRCs at outdoor, open-air sites in some locations and use large commercial vans as CRCs in other locations. CRC locations will depend on a number of factors, including input from local and tribal leaders.

Online Resources for Customers

• Customers can look up their address online to find out if their location is being monitored for the potential safety shutoff at www.pge.com/pspsupdates.
• 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.