Here’s when PG&E expects full power restoration in Sierra foothills hobbled by outages
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. estimates it will restore power by next Tuesday or sooner to about 14,000 Sierra Nevada foothills customers who remain in outages after severe winter storms damaged equipment late last month.
“Many customers will be restored in the coming days and we can commit to an (estimated time of restoration) of Tuesday, Jan. 11 for customers,” PG&E spokeswoman Megan McFarland said Wednesday morning in an emailed statement. “To be clear, many customers will be restored earlier.”
Tens of thousands of homes and businesses in the mountains and foothills lost power early last week, just after Christmas, as a record-setting snowstorm pounded Northern California. Some customers have spent 11 days without power.
McFarland in a Wednesday morning update that about 10,000 customers remained without power in Nevada County, about 4,100 in El Dorado County and 3,800 in Placer County.
By early Wednesday afternoon, the utility reported close to 4,000 more had power restored, leaving about 9,000 in outages in Nevada County, 3,300 in Placer County and 2,100 in El Dorado County.
McFarland said the company expects to restore close to 1,000 more homes and businesses by the end of Wednesday across those three counties, around 3,200 this Thursday and Friday and the remaining 11,400 between Friday and next Tuesday.
PG&E has completed “essentially all” damage assessments across Sierra, Nevada, Placer, El Dorado and Yuba counties, McFarland wrote.
The most extensive damage came in Nevada County, where PG&E in a Tuesday morning update said it identified 307 damaged power poles, 580 locations with conductors or lines in need of repair, 171 damaged crossarms and 70 damaged transformers.
“Vast accumulations of snow, downed trees and other hazards” have hindered repair and restoration progress, McFarland wrote Tuesday morning.
PG&E has been assisted by local utilities including Sacramento Municipal Utility District and the city of Roseville, and says it has also received out-of-state help from Eugene, Oregon, Public Service New Mexico and Wyoming-based Lower Valley Energy.
PG&E opens resource centers
The utility company is opening several resource centers in affected counties. The centers offer heating, blankets, snacks, device charging, Wi-Fi and some other services. The sites are not overnight shelters.
In Nevada County, the Grass Valley Courtyard Suites (210 N. Auburn St.) will be open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Madelyn Helling Library (980 Maidu Way) from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. as resource centers.
In El Dorado County, centers will be open at the Pleasant Valley Community Hall (4765 Pleasant Valley Grange Road), Pollock Pines Community Center (2675 Sanders Drive) and Pioneer Park (6740 Fairplay Road, Somerset) from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Garden Valley Grange Hall (4940 Marshall Road) will also give out “go bags” between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.
In Placer County, the Alta Fire Protection District Community Hall (33950 Alta Bonnynook Road) and Veterans Memorial Hall (24601 Harrison Street in Foresthill) will be open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
And in Sierra County, the Downieville Community Hall (327 Main St.) will also be open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
This story was originally published January 5, 2022 at 10:38 AM.
