PG&E says 189,000 customers have no power as wildfire safety blackout enters 3rd day
PG&E Corp. said Tuesday morning it had restored power to 156,000 customers, leaving 189,000 homes and businesses without electricity overnight as its largest wildfire-safety blackout of the year entered its third day.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company said the remaining customers are expected to have their electricity back by sometime late Tuesday.
The utility started restoring power Monday morning as fierce, dry Diablo winds began subsiding throughout Northern California. PG&E launched the “public safety power shutoff,” the fifth and largest of 2020, Sunday evening as the year’s worst windstorm gathered force.
PG&E said it would complete restoration of power to all customers once its crews finished patrolling more than 17,000 miles of power lines for signs of damage.
The blackout covered parts of 34 counties in the upper Sacramento Valley, Sierra foothills and the Bay Area.
Late Monday, PG&E said inspectors had discovered 13 pieces of equipment that were damaged by the winds. The number was certain to rise as patrols combed the blackout area, said Mark Quinlan, the utility’s incident commander. Power lines and other equipment must be repaired before the power can be switched back on.
PG&E said its weather monitors detected wind gusts as high as 89 mph in Sonoma County and 71 mph in Placer and Lake counties. A National Weather Service “red flag” alert remained in effect through Tuesday afternoon.
Amid the worst wildfire season in California history, PG&E has increasingly resorted to deliberate power shutoffs to reduce risks. It was plunged into bankruptcy in early 2019 by liabilities from the 2017 wine-country fires and 2018 Camp Fire. Although it exited bankruptcy five months ago, it remains vulnerable to wildfire perils; Cal Fire is investigating whether faulty PG&E equipment sparked the Zogg Fire, which killed four people in rural Shasta County in September.
This story was originally published October 27, 2020 at 7:53 AM with the headline "PG&E says 189,000 customers have no power as wildfire safety blackout enters 3rd day."