After warning on Monday that there could be deliberate outages in parts of Northern California and the San Francisco Bay area, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) cut power to roughly 2,000 customers across eight counties as well as one tribal community. The outages, which are known as Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) started at around 12:30 AM on Tuesday.
Although the company originally believed that around 12,000 homes and businesses could be affected by deliberate outages, they ultimately only needed to shut off power to 2,000 customers. However, thousands of outages that were not related to the intentional shutoffs were reported on Tuesday morning in some parts of the state.
Much of California is experiencing high temperatures and dry, gusty conditions that are conducive to wildfires, with temperatures hitting the triple digits in some places. For example, wind gusts exceeded 63 miles per hour in Sonoma County and registered around 49 miles per hour in Butte County, while temperatures hit 109 degrees in Sacramento and 111 degrees in Redding.
PG&E was worried that the temperatures could overheat their power infrastructure at a time when it is already under significant strain thanks to a greater demand for air conditioning and other methods of staying cool that require energy. When combined with the windy and dry weather the state is experiencing, these conditions create a significant wildfire risk.
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The company said that restoring power to all of the customers who are affected could take up to 12 daylight hours after weather conditions improve, leaving people without power and uncertain about when exactly it could return. They cautioned that power restoration could be delayed for customers in areas where individual power lines have sustained significant damage from wind-blown branches or debris that need to be repaired. They also reserved the right to implement additional power cuts for these and other customers depending on the weather conditions and wildfire threats.
“We continue to monitor the situation to determine if a shutoff is necessary for safety,” said PG&E spokesman Paul Moreno. “We are sending all of these customers regular updates so they can prepare accordingly.”
In the meantime, the utility has opened a few “community resource centers” in the blackout areas where people can go to cool off in air conditioning, use Wi-Fi, charge their phones and other devices, and obtain free bottled water. Ahead of the planned outages, they encouraged customers to charge their devices, freeze large containers of water, and check on loved ones to ensure their safety during the heat.
PG&E was responsible for dozens of damaging wildfires
There is already a major wildfire burning in Fresno in the Sierra Nevada foothills, and the company is taking the wildfire threat seriously after being held accountable for previous wildfires sparked by their equipment.
PG&E's equipment has been blamed for starting some of the worst fires in the history of the state, including the 2018 Camp Fire. More than 30 wildfires have been attributed to the utility since 2017, and the blazes were connected to the destruction of more than 23,000 homes and businesses as well as the deaths of more than 100 individuals. In 2019, they ended up filing for bankruptcy after they were fined and sued for their role in starting wildfires. Weather conditions and downed utility lines were also behind the horrific Maui fires seen last August that killed more than 100 people.
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