PG&E says power shutoffs could come to 8 Northern California counties due to fire danger

Conditions ripe for wildfires, PG&E says

PG&E officials said in a weather update Sunday that in addition to the high temperatures, “there will also be a period of breezy northerly winds across primarily the northern and western Sacramento Valley and adjacent foothills” beginning Monday night.

Weather service forecasters and PG&E officials say breezes in some spots along the Valley’s western tier — from Solano County north to Red Bluff — could gust as high as 30 mph “although, localized gusts of 35-40 mph will be possible,” PG&E said.

PG&E forecasts are particularly concerned about conditions on the ground, noting that “the grass crop has cured across the lower elevations and dead fuel moisture values are at seasonal dryness levels.” That means that the combination of hot air, strong winds and tinder-dry grasses common in the Valley and foothills could lead to quick-moving fires.

The utility said in its weather update that it has already shifted 624 of 788 circuits in the affected areas to “enhanced powerline safety settings,” which adjust the sensitivity of the equipment to power off faster if a problem is detected. These buffers, according to PG&E, allow lines to be de-energized automatically “within one-tenth of a second” if vegetation or flames interfere with sagging lines or overheated transformers. Officials touted in a report to state regulators that such equipment settings reduced ignitions to its equipment by 68% in 2022.

Utility blamed equipment sparking wildfires

PG&E in recent years has imposed planned power shutoffs in the face of dire wildfire weather. The utility company’s equipment has been blamed for sparking some of the worst fires in state history, including the 2018 Camp Fire that devastated Paradise, and PG&E Corp. has been found liable for billions of dollars worth of destruction.

The utility since 2017 has been blamed for starting more than 30 wildfires, blazes that destroyed more than 23,000 homes and businesses and has killed more than 100 people.

Last year, the company engineered two PSPS events out of four possible scenarios the company identified, according to company filings to the California Public Utilities Commission. In late August, the company cut power across the same “footprint” under Tuesday’s possible outage, affecting nearly 4,000 ratepayers out of the 8,400 who were notified of a possible outage from Yolo and Napa counties north to Shasta County. A second PSPS event three weeks later affected roughly 1,200 customers, roughly one in five who could have been affected, in a smaller footprint in Tehama, Lake and Napa counties, according to the filings.

PG&E customers enrolled in its Medical Baseline program who have not verified that they received notification of the potential shutoffs will be visited at home by a PG&E employee when possible, the utility has said for previous outages. Officials said primary focus will be given to customers who rely on electricity for critical life-sustaining equipment.

Hernandez, the PG&E spokeswoman, said the utility will open six “community resource centers” Tuesday in the blackout areas, enabling customers to cool off in the air conditioning, get free bottled water and snacks and charge their phones. PG&E mapping indicated those centers would be open beginning at 8 a.m. Tuesday in Redding, Anderson, Elk Creek and Stonyford, among other areas.

More information on the PSPS and how to get alerts are available on PG&E website.

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