35,000 Alameda County Ratepayers 'Likely' To Lose Power

ALAMEDA COUNTY, CA — An advisory Tuesday from Alameda County warns that PG&E will "likely" turn off power that will affect nearly 35,000 residents and businesses county ratepayers.

The advisory comes as officials prepare for gusty winds, low humidity and severe fire conditions.

Updated potential Public Safety Power Shut Off maps can be found here: https://pge.com/en_US/safety/emergency-preparedness/natural-disaster/wildfires/psps-service-impact-map.page If the site is not responding (PG&E has experienced downtime due to high traffic volume), follow the utility via its Twitter feed at @PGE4me for county-by-county updates. Or check your city's website and social media pages.

The shutoff is part of a large PSPS initiated by PG&E starting Wednesday as early as 12:01 a.m. for many Northern California areas.

Residents and businesses are urged to take necessary preparedness steps to be without power for up to several days. For more information on how to prepare for a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS), go to PG&E's preparedness site www.pge.com/wildfiresafety. (Again, the site may be down so check the utility's Twitter feed at @PGE4me).

Restoration of power is expected to begin at 12 p.m. Thursday but may take several days to complete.

The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for much of Northern California. The red flag warning will be in effect from 5 a.m. Wednesday to 5 p.m. Thursday for the East and North Bay hills and valleys, and from 5 p.m. Wednesday to noon Thursday for the Santa Cruz mountains, according to the National Weather Service.

The warning for extreme fire danger was issued early Tuesday as a dry and windy weather system is forecast for the region.