PG&E scales back shutoff estimate. Here’s how many California customers will be affected

After shutting off power to 11,000 homes and businesses in Northern California early Sunday morning, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. will be scaling back the outages planned later in the day due to a change in weather.

PG&E had initially planned on turning off the lights to 89,000 customers in Northern California in response to easterly Diablo winds that put much of the region in critical fire danger. By Sunday afternoon, however, the number of affected customers was expected to reach 65,000 by 8 p.m.

Shortly after midnight, people in parts of Butte, Plumas, Shasta and Tehama counties started to lose power. Though 15,000 were expected to be included in the blackout, PG&E cut off power to 11,000.

The blackouts planned for Sunday evening — set to include parts of Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, El Dorado, Lake, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sierra, Sonoma and Yuba counties, along with some residents of the Mooretown Rancheria Native American tribe — were expected to affect about 74,000 customers starting at 4 p.m. That number has since been revised to 54,000 customers.

In the Sacramento area, 27,000 customers can expect power to go out in El Dorado County, many of whom live in Placerville and the surrounding areas. Placer County will also be included Sunday’s planned outage, with about 4,380 customers affected. Just after 6 p.m. Sunday, nearly 4,300 customers in the El Dorado County town of Pollock Pines had power disconnected.

Also, 15 customers in Kern County will also have their power cut due to Santa Ana winds developing later in the day.

Although the number of people who will have to forgo electricity this weekend has been shaved down, the timeline remains the same: affected regions will stay dark overnight and customers included in the blackouts can expect power to be restored by the end of the day Monday.

PG&E representatives said that following the end of the high-risk weather, more than 1,700 on-the-ground personnel and 50 helicopters will inspect the equipment and repair any damage, which is highly likely to occur. When safe, the company will restore power and notify customers.

Mark Quinlan, PG&E incident commander, said the utility is trying to minimize the hardships associated with the power outages and only use the Public Safety Power Shutoff system when absolutely necessary.

“We understand that, especially nowadays with the pandemic, working from home, dealing with the home-related challenges, with kids at home trying to learn and do school from home, it’s a hardship and we understand that,” Quinlan said.

The company advised customers to check the company’s public safety power shutoff website for the latest information.

The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning Saturday through Monday, when high winds gusting up to 55 miles per hour are expected to subside. Starting Monday morning, PG&E crews will begin surveying damage to equipment and begin re-energizing lines once it is safe to do so.

PG&E will have 28 community resource centers open, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. to provide customers with electricity, WiFi, charging stations, water, snacks and up-to-date information, while following COVID-19 guidelines.

At least one major wildfire has already started this weekend due to the increased risk. The Glass Fire, in Napa County east of Calistoga, has burned 1,000 acres and is being pushed along by fast-moving winds. Evacuations have been ordered in the area and some buildings have reportedly been burnt. PG&E officials said that residents near burning wildfires may have their power cut upon request of Cal Fire, unrelated to the Public Safety Power Shutoff.

This story was originally published September 27, 2020 at 1:24 PM.