Updated 16/10, 10:50 am

With forecast strong, dry, northerly winds, PG&E anticipates the need to proactively turn off power for the safety of approximately 32,000 customers in several counties beginning Thursday

After continued monitoring, PG&E has adjusted the scope of the Power Safety Public Shutoff, which is expected to begin as early as noon Thursday in some parts of our service area. Currently, the potential closure is expected to affect approximately 32,000 customers in the following provinces:

• Alameda County: 271 customers, 18 Medical Baseline customers
• Alpine County: 564 customers, 10 Medical Baseline customers
• Amador County: 55 customers, 2 Medical Baseline customers
• Butte County: 1,160 customers, 87 Medical Baseline customers
• Calaveras County: 2,346 customers, 59 Medical Baseline customers
• Colusa County: 605 customers, 30 Medical Baseline customers
• Contra Costa County: 913 customers, 49 Medical Baseline customers
• El Dorado County: 984 customers, 28 Medical Baseline customers
• Fresno County: 1,237 customers, 73 Medical Baseline customers
• Glenn County: 508 customers, 21 Medical Baseline customers
• Lake County: 605 customers, 58 Medical Baseline customers
• Madera County: 2,894 customers, 215 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: 3,034 clients, 131 medical baseline clients
• Nevada County: 808 customers, 16 Medical Baseline customers
• Placer County: 1,175 customers, 26 Medical Baseline customers
• Plumas County: 658 customers, 27 Medical Baseline customers
• San Benito County: 24 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
• San Luis Obispo County: 128 customers, 4 Medical Baseline customers
• Santa Barbara County: 261 customers, 6 Medical Baseline customers
• Santa Clara County: 657 customers, 41 Medical Baseline customers
• Santa Cruz County: 132 customers, 8 Medical Baseline customers
• Shasta County: 2,412 customers, 194 Medical Baseline customers
• Sierra County: 972 customers, 41 Medical Baseline customers
• Solano County: 1,833 customers, 159 Medical Baseline customers
• Sonoma County: 988 customers, 22 Medical Baseline customers
• Stanislaus County: 27 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
• Tehama County: 2,056 customers, 199 Medical Baseline customers
• Tuolumne County: 3,823 customers, 175 Medical Baseline customers
• Yolo County: 262 customers, 15 Medical Baseline customers

10.15

The forecast strong, dry, northerly winds mean PG&E may need to proactively turn off power to ensure safety About 28,000 customers in various provinces as of Thursday

Meteorologists and operations professionals from Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) are monitoring a potential wind event that is expected to enter parts of our service area around noon Thursday and exit around noon Saturday. Given the forecast high winds and current dry vegetation conditions, PG&E has begun sending advanced notifications to customers – via text message, email and auto-dial – in specific areas where power may need to be proactively turned off for safety to reduce the risk of reduce wildfires. The duration and extent of power outages depend on the weather in each area, and not all customers will be affected for the entire period.

The potential Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) event could impact approximately 28,000 customers in small portions of several counties, including areas in the North Bay, East Bay, Central Coast and Sierra Nevadas. PG&E’s in-house meteorologists, Emergency Operations Center and Hazard Awareness & Warning Center (HAWC) continue to monitor conditions closely and will share additional customer notifications as conditions develop.

Whenever possible, PG&E representatives will conduct individual, in-person visits to customers enrolled in the company’s Medical Baseline Program who do not verify that they have received these important safety communications, with a primary focus on customers who rely on electricity for critical life-sustaining equipment. .

Potentially affected customers, provinces

Customers can look up their address online to find out if their location is being monitored for a possible security shutdown at www.pge.com/pspsupdates.

Currently, the potential closure is expected to affect approximately 28,000 customers in the following provinces:

• Alameda County: 28 customers, 1 Medical Baseline customer
• Alpine County: 564 customers, 10 Medical Baseline customers
• Amador County: 55 customers, 2 Medical Baseline customers
• Butte County: 648 customers, 51 Medical Baseline customers
• Calaveras County: 2,346 customers, 59 Medical Baseline customers
• Colusa County: 605 customers, 30 Medical Baseline customers
• Contra Costa County: 805 customers, 49 Medical Baseline customers
• El Dorado County: 984 customers, 28 Medical Baseline customers
• Fresno County: 1,151 customers, 73 Medical Baseline customers
• Glenn County: 511 customers, 21 Medical Baseline customers
• Lake County: 168 customers, 8 Medical Baseline customers
• Madera County: 2,901 customers, 216 Medical Baseline customers
• Mariposa County: 640 customers, 15 Medical Baseline customers
• Mendocino County: 10 customers, 4 Medical Baseline customers
• Merced County: 27 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
• Monterey County: 576 customers, 21 Medical Baseline customers
• Napa County: 649 customers, 17 Medical Baseline customers
• Nevada County: 808 customers, 16 Medical Baseline customers
• Placer County: 1,175 customers, 26 Medical Baseline customers
• Plumas County: 658 customers, 27 Medical Baseline customers
• San Luis Obispo County: 128 customers, 4 Medical Baseline customers
• Santa Barbara County: 106 customers, 2 Medical Baseline customers
• Shasta County: 1,417 customers, 87 Medical Baseline customers
• Sierra County: 972 customers, 41 Medical Baseline customers
• Solano County: 2,467 customers, 196 Medical Baseline customers
• Sonoma County: 707 customers, 19 Medical Baseline customers
• Stanislaus County: 27 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
• Tehama County: 2,872 customers, 275 Medical Baseline customers
• Tuolumne County: 3,823 customers, 175 Medical Baseline customers
• Yolo County: 262 customers, 15 Medical Baseline customers

Why PG&E is calling a PSPS event

PG&E initiates PSPS when fire weather forecasts are severe enough to put people’s safety, lives, homes and businesses at risk from wildfires. Our overarching goal is to stop catastrophic wildfires by proactively turning off power in certain areas when extreme weather threatens our power grid. We recognize that PSPS outages cause hardships for our customers and communities. Our sole focus is to keep our customers safe.

Because every weather situation is unique, we carefully assess a combination of factors when deciding whether to turn off power. These factors include, but are not limited to:

• Low humidity, typically 30% and lower.
• A forecast of high winds, especially sustained winds in excess of 20 miles per hour and gusts in excess of 30-40 miles per hour.
• Condition of dry material on the ground and low moisture content of vegetation.

Our decision-making process also takes into account the presence of trees tall enough to hit power lines.

This set of criteria is a first step that can lead to further analysis by our meteorology team to determine if a PSPS event is necessary.

You can read more here

• PG&E’s emergency website (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 option to choose their preferred language for viewing the information while visiting the website.
• Customers are encouraged to update their contact information and indicate their preferred language for notifications by visiting pge.com/mywildfirealerts or calling 1-800-743-5000, where language support is available.
• Renters and non-account holders can sign up to receive PSPS zip code alerts for any area where they do not have a PG&E account by visiting pge.com/pspsupdates.
• Customers can prepare for emergencies at PG&E’s Safety Action Center (safetyactioncenter.pge.com). By using the “Create Your Own Emergency Plan” tool and answering a few short questions, website visitors can gather and organize the important information needed for a personalized family emergency plan. This includes telephone numbers, escape routes and a family meeting location if an evacuation is necessary.

PG&E’s commitment to wildfire safety

Using advanced technologies and rebuilding the electrical system from underground, we prevent forest fires, improve reliability and reduce costs in the long term. We are building the energy network of the future that our customers deserve, while also taking immediate steps to ensure customer safety.

Our wildfire prevention work relies on layers of protection to make our system safer and more resilient while positioning us to better serve our customers in the short and long term. These tools help us respond to our state’s evolving climate challenges:

• Our 10,000-mile Undergrounding Program is the largest effort in the U.S. to put power lines underground as a measure to reduce the risk of wildfires.
• In addition to underground construction, we strengthen the electrical system with stronger poles and covered power lines in and near areas with a high fire risk.
• Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings (EPSS) reduce ignitions and provide wildfire protection for all customers living in high fire risk areas.
• We continue to reduce the impact of PSPS. While there were no weather-related PSPS outages in 2022, this remains a top priority for our team.
• We manage trees and other vegetation near power lines that could cause a power outage and/or ignition.

We are also investing in advanced tools and technologies such as artificial intelligence and drones that help us automate fire detection and response.