PG&E Proactively Shuts Off Power To 5K In Napa County

NAPA COUNTY, CA — Residents of several Napa County communities were among over nearly 23,000 PG&E customers who remained without power Tuesday in the North Bay after PG&E shut it off due to safety concerns. High winds of up to 50 mph and hot, dry conditions prompted the utility to implement what it calls a Public Safety Power Shutoff starting around 9 p.m. Monday.

PG&E spokeswoman Tamar Sarkissian said some customers may be without power until 9 p.m. Wednesday.

"This is all based on the severe weather event and once the severe weather passes, we are able to go out and inspect our lines," Sarkissian said. "Once we know it's safe to turn the power back on, we'll be turning our customers back on as safely and as quickly as possible."

About 15,000 customers in Santa Rosa and about 2,600 in unincorporated parts of Sonoma County were without power Tuesday.

In Napa County, 5,028 customers were without power in Deer Park, Angwin, Calistoga, Aetna Springs, Berryessa Estates, the eastern slopes above St. Helena, and parts of Pope Valley, county officials said.

PG&E will use extra crews, helicopters and airplanes armed with infrared cameras to perform inspections along about 10,625 miles of transmission and distribution lines. The restoration can only take place during daylight hours for safety reasons, Sarkissian said.

All told, PG&E turned off power to about 172,000 customers in portions of 22 counties and seven tribal communities: Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, El Dorado, Humboldt, Kern, Lake, Lassen, Mariposa, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne and Yuba.

"PG&E only undertakes a PSPS as a last resort, when it is necessary to do so to protect public safety from extreme wildfire threat," said PG&E Spokeswoman Deanna Contreras.

"This PSPS decision was based on forecasts of dry, hot weather with strong winds that pose significant fire risk, Contreras said. "The National Weather Service has placed most of Northern and Southern California, including 1.5 million PG&E customers, under Red Flag Warnings for fire danger."

"Forecasts indicate that the peak period of winds should end Wednesday morning," Contreras said. "Restoration activities can only take place during daylight hours, so it’s likely that some customers may not be restored until 9:00 p.m. Wednesday evening."

For the latest information on the shutoff, customers can go to Pge.com/pspsupdates. PG&E is also holding a briefing at 6 p.m. Tuesday that will be livestreamed on YouTube.

PG&E Community Resource Centers are open at the following locations in Sonoma and Napa counties:

• Costco Wholesale, 1900 Santa Rosa Ave., Santa Rosa
• First Congregational Church Of Sonoma, 252 W Spain St. in Sonoma
• Luther Burbank Center For The Arts, 50 Mark West Springs Road
• Napa Pacific Union College, 1 Angwin Ave., Angwin
• Napa Highlands Christian Fellowship, 970 Petrified Forest Road, Calistoga
• Saint Helena Catholic School, 1255 Oak Ave., St Helena

The centers provide a place for affected community members to connect to WiFi and charge their electronic devices such as cellphones and tablets. Bottled water and snacks are offered, and there are restrooms at each site as well as hand-washing stations.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, PG&E said health and safety protocols are in place at all its Community Resource Centers, including:

• Facial coverings and maintaining a physical distance of at least six feet from those who are not part of the same household will be required at all CRCs.
• Temperature checks will be administered before entering CRCs that are located indoors.
• CRC staff will be trained in COVID-19 precautions and will regularly sanitize surfaces and use Plexiglass barriers at check-in.
• All CRCs will follow county and state requirements regarding COVID-19, including limits on the number of customers permitted indoors at any time.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.