Scope of potential event reduced from earlier
estimates due to favorable weather conditions
OAKLAND,
Calif., Oct. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Pacific Gas
and Electric Company (PG&E) meteorologists and operations
professionals continue to monitor a potential wind event forecasted
to enter parts of its service area around 1
p.m. on Thursday and exit as late as Saturday afternoon in
some locations. Given the forecasted strong northerly winds and
current dry vegetation conditions, PG&E has sent advanced
notifications to customers—via text, email, and automated phone
call—in targeted areas where power may need to be proactively shut
off for safety to reduce wildfire risk. The duration and extent of
power outages will depend on the weather in each area, and not all
customers will be affected for the entire period.
Potentially Affected Customers, Counties
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.
The potential Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) event could
affect approximately 20,000 customers in portions of the following
counties:
- Alameda County: 422 customers,
24 Medical Baseline customers
- Butte County: 1,153 customers,
87 Medical Baseline customers
- Colusa County: 606 customers,
30 Medical Baseline customers
- Contra Costa County: 973
customers, 59 Medical Baseline customers
- Fresno County: 1,235
customers, 75 Medical Baseline customers
- Glenn County: 508 customers,
21 Medical Baseline customers
- Lake County: 1,088 customers,
83 Medical Baseline customers
- Madera County: 1,310
customers, 109 Medical Baseline customers
- Mariposa County: 640
customers, 15 Medical Baseline customers
- Mendocino County: 13
customers, 4 Medical Baseline customers
- Merced County: 27 customers, 0
Medical Baseline customers
- Monterey County: 597
customers, 21 Medical Baseline customers
- Napa County: 3,103
customers,135 Medical Baseline customers
- Plumas County: 316 customers,
11 Medical Baseline customers
- San Benito County: 24
customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
- Santa Barbara County: 155
customers, 4 Medical Baseline customers
- Santa Clara County: 663
customers, 41 Medical Baseline customers
- Santa Cruz County: 132
customers, 8 Medical Baseline customers
- Shasta County: 2,407customers,
194 Medical Baseline customers
- Solano County: 1,838
customers, 159 Medical Baseline customers
- Sonoma County: 1,010
customers, 23 Medical Baseline customers
- Stanislaus County: 27
customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
- Tehama County: 2,056
customers, 199 Medical Baseline customers
- Yolo County: 262 customers, 15
Medical Baseline customers
A substantial wetting rainfall hit the Northern and Central
Sierras Wednesday morning, providing a welcome boost to dead fuel
moisture values and relative humidity in these areas. As a result
of these favorable conditions, PG&E removed nine counties and
more than 10,000 customers from the scope of this PSPS event.
Counties removed from the scope of this event include: Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El
Dorado, Nevada,
Placer, San Luis Obispo, Sierra, and Tuolumne. PG&E has issued cancellation
notifications to customers removed from the scope of this PSPS
event.
When possible, PG&E representatives will make individual,
in-person visits to customers enrolled in the company's Medical
Baseline Program who do not verify they have received important
safety communications, with a primary focus on customers who rely
on electricity for critical life-sustaining equipment.
Customer Support
During PSPS events, PG&E opens
Community Resource Centers where community members can access
resources, including:
- A safe location to meet their basic power needs, such as
charging medical equipment and electronic devices
- Up-to-date information about the PSPS
- Water, snacks, blankets, ADA-accessible restrooms and other
essential items to reduce hardships to our customers
Dozens of Community Resource Centers will be open in impacted
counties to provide support to customers between 8am and 10pm. For a full list of
available CRCs, please visit pge.com/crc.
How Customers Can Prepare
- Use a cell phone or hard-wired phone. Cordless phones do not
work without electricity.
- Use battery-operated flashlights, not candles, which may pose a
fire hazard.
- Unplug or turn off all electric and heat-producing appliances
(e.g., air conditioners, washers and dryers, ovens, stoves, irons)
to avoid overloading circuits. Overloaded circuits can be a fire
hazard once power is restored.
- Unplug televisions and computers that were in use when the
power went out.
- Leave a single lamp on to alert you when power returns.
- Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed, and place extra
containers of ice inside to preserve food. A full freezer will
remain colder longer.
- Notify your alarm company if you have an alarm system.
Equipment can be affected by outages.
- Turn your appliances back on one at a time when conditions
return to normal.
- Reset clocks, thermostats and other programmed equipment after
power is restored.
Generator Safety
Backup power can be a vital part of
any emergency preparedness plan in the event of a power outage.
PG&E's residential and business customers can review key
considerations, safety tips, financing and retailer information by
visiting pge.com/backuppower.
Why PG&E Calls a PSPS Event
PG&E initiates PSPS when the fire-weather forecast is severe
enough that people's safety, lives, homes and businesses may be in
danger of wildfires. Our overarching goal is to stop
catastrophic wildfires by proactively turning off power in targeted
areas when extreme weather threatens our electric grid. We
recognize that PSPS outages create hardships for our customers and
communities. Our sole focus is to keep our customers
safe.
As each weather situation is unique, we carefully review a
combination of factors when deciding if power must be turned off.
These factors include but are not limited to:
- Low humidity levels, generally 30% and below.
- A forecast of high winds, particularly sustained winds above 19
miles per hour and wind gusts above 30-40 miles per
hour.
- Condition of dry material on the ground and low moisture
content of vegetation.
Our decision-making process also accounts for the presence of
trees tall enough to strike powerlines. This set of criteria
is a first step which may lead to further analysis by our
meteorology team to determine if a PSPS event is
necessary.
Where to Learn More
- PG&E's emergency website (www.pge.com/pspsupdates) is now
available in 16 languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog,
Russian, Vietnamese, Korean, Farsi, Arabic, Hmong, Khmer, Punjabi,
Japanese, Thai, Portuguese and Hindi. Customers have the
opportunity to choose their language of preference for viewing the
information when visiting the website.
- Customers are encouraged to update their contact information
and indicate their preferred language for notifications by
visiting www.pge.com/mywildfirealerts or by calling
1-800-743-5000, where in-language support is available.
- Tenants and non-account holders can sign up to receive PSPS ZIP
Code Alerts for any area they you do not have a PG&E account by
visiting www.pge.com/pspsupdates.
- At PG&E's Safety Action
Center (www.safetyactioncenter.pge.com) customers can prepare
for emergencies. 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. This includes phone numbers,
escape routes and a family meeting location if an evacuation is
necessary.
About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E
Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is a combined natural gas and electric
utility serving more than 16 million people across 70,000 square
miles in Northern and Central
California. For more information, visit pge.com
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SOURCE Pacific Gas and Electric Company