PG&E Power Shutdowns: Power Restored To Over 500,000 Customers

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA — Power has been restored to nearly three-quarters of the customers impacted by Pacific Gas and Electric Company's Public Safety Power Shutoff, while thousands of other customers across California remain in the dark.

PG&E's shutoffs began Wednesday and continued throughout Thursday, prompted by dry, hot and windy weather in Northern and Central California. About 738,000 customers in 35 counties were impacted throughout the state.

NBC News reported that the economic impact of PG&E's planned shutdowns could be roughly $2 billion, according to some estimates.

PG&E CEO Bill Johnson said during a press conference that the utility was "not adequately prepared" to support the shutoffs. He apologized to customers.

"We faced a choice between hardship on everyone or safety, and we chose safety," Johnson said. "And I do apologize for the hardship this has caused, but I think we made the right call on safety.

"Our website crashed several times," he continued. "Our maps are inconsistent and maybe incorrect. Our call centers were overloaded. To put it simply, we were not adequately prepared to support the operational event."

PG&E crews started safety inspections, repairs and restoration efforts in much of the affected areas as weather conditions improved Thursday.

By noon Friday, the utility company had given an "all clear" to 34 of 35 counties impacted by the shutoffs – all except for Kern County, where windy weather was expected to subside by midday.

Power has been restored to about 543,000 customers, or 74 percent, including full restoration in Humboldt, Siskiyou, Trinity and Yolo counties, according to the utility company. Less than 195,000 customers remained without power.

The utility had 44 staged helicopters and more than 6,300 personnel conducting safety patrols and inspections. Crews found 23 instances of weather-related damage to the company's system in the impacted areas, according to PG&E. Crews were working to address the repairs.

Safety Resources

PG&E opened community resource centers in a variety of locations during the shutoffs Wednesday and Thursday. A total of 26 centers remained open Friday to provide water, phone charging stations, air-conditioned seating and restrooms for customers. More than 3,300 customers used the centers on Thursday, according to PG&E. See the list of open centers.

Related:

• PG&E Power Shutdowns: 600,000 Without Power, Restorations Begin
• Over 500,000 Without Power In NorCal As PG&E Starts Power Shutdowns
• Red Flag Warning Issued For Much Of NorCal: NWS
• Cal Fire Increases Staffing Amid Fire Danger Across California
• CPUC Blasts PG&E: 'This Cannot Be New Normal'