PG&E Shutoff: Power Restored To Nearly All 50K Impacted Customers

NORTH BAY, CA — PG&E announced it restored power by 5 p.m. Thursday to almost all 50,000 customers affected by shutoffs that began Tuesday in parts of 13 counties, including in the North Bay counties of Napa, Sonoma and Solano.

The power shutoffs, which PG&E calls Public Safety Power Shutoffs, are an attempt to prevent the utility's equipment from sparking wildfires during dry and windy weather conditions.

Once the wind event passed in each affected area, PG&E crews conducted ground and aerial patrols to inspect more than 3,200 miles of distribution and transmission lines for damage or hazards. The patrol inspection efforts included more than 1,300 ground patrol units and 33 helicopters.

"As of 5 p.m. today, preliminary data show at least 10 instances of weather-related damage and hazards in the PSPS-affected areas; at least four of these had the potential to cause wildfire ignitions if PG&E had not de-energized power lines," PG&E North Bay Spokesperson Deanna Contreras said in a news release. "Examples include damaged equipment and vegetation and other debris on power lines. More hazard and damage reports are being evaluated."

In areas where equipment was damaged by the wind event, crews worked safely and as quickly as possible to make the repairs and restore those customers, Contreras said.

The utility opened 25 temporary Community Resource Centers in 11 counties to support customers affected by this event, the majority of whom were in Shasta, Butte, Napa and Tehama counties.

Small portions of Contra Costa and Alameda counties were initially part of the planned shutoffs but were removed from the scope of the operation before the shutoffs began, according to PG&E.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.