PG&E is warning that more than 30,000 customers in several counties will have to turn off their power for safety reasons starting Thursday due to dry and windy weather conditions that pose the risk of wildfires starting and spreading.

People can find out if their location is at risk from the utility’s power shutoff actions by visiting pge.com/pspsupdates.

The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for much of the Bay Area and elsewhere in Northern California at 11 p.m. Thursday due to the forecast of low humidity and winds of 40-55 mph with isolated gusts up to 60 mph in higher temperatures. increases. The warning applies until Saturday 5 p.m.

The customers being monitored for power shutoffs include 28 in Alameda County, 805 in Contra Costa County, 10 in Mendocino County, 576 in Monterey County, 648 in Napa County, 2,467 in Solano County and 707 in Sonoma County.

PG&E said in a statement that when it comes to the shutoffs, the utility’s 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.”

PG&E has sent advanced notifications to customers about the potential shutoffs and is encouraging people to update their contact information as necessary by visiting pge.com/mywildfirealerts or calling (800) 743-5000.