7K Without Power In Sonoma County As PG&E Shutoff Underway

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — UPDATED 3:07 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20: PG&E customers in Guerneville and other West Sonoma County communities will not lose power Wednesday after all, the utility company announced. Guerneville residents were slated to be among more than 17,000 Sonoma County customers impacted by PG&E's latest fire-weather related Public Safety Power Shutoff.

For most of the other affected customers in the North Bay counties of Sonoma, Solano and Napa, de-energization began around 7 a.m. Wednesday.

"For safety, PG&E turned off power to approximately 48,000 customers Wednesday morning," according to PG&E officials. "These customers are in portions of Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Shasta, Solano, Sonoma, Tehama and Yolo counties. Wind speeds exceeding 50 mph were recorded earlier today in most of these counties, including wind speeds over 70 mph in Sonoma County."

Another round of de-energization was expected Wednesday afternoon for customers in the Guerneville area.

"Due to improved weather conditions including some precipitation and increased humidity levels, approximately 83,000 customers previously expected to lose power for safety are no longer part of this Public Safety Power Shutoff," PG&E North Bay Spokeswoman Deanna Contreras said in an email at 2:12 p.m. Wednesday. "These customers are in El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sierra and Yuba counties as well as western Sonoma County."

PG&E is continuing to monitor the "evolving weather conditions" which may still prompt shutoffs later today for 14,000 customers in Butte, Plumas and Tehama counties and additional parts of Yuba County, Contreras said.

Strong winds have the potential for damage and hazards to the electric system, which could ignite wildfires if lines are energized, she said.

Conteras added that while there was some rain in areas included in this Public Safety Power Shutoff, "it did not sufficiently saturate the abundant dry-fuel bed, which has accumulated over many months."

"These areas also have red flag warnings and met the additional criteria to have their power turned off for safety," Contreras said. "Additionally, your power may be shut off – even if it’s not windy and perhaps even raining in your area – because the line serving your community relies upon a line that runs through an area experiencing extreme fire danger conditions. This is the second driest start to the water year, which begins Oct. 1, in the last 100 years."

A National Weather Service red-flag warning for the North Bay mountains, East Bay hills and Diablo Range went into effect at 4 a.m. Wednesday and was expected to remain in place until 7 a.m. Thursday.

According to PG&E, cities and unincorporated communities originally supposed to be impacted by the PSPS in Sonoma County were: Calistoga, Camp Meeker, Cazadero, Cloverdale, Duncans Mills, Forestville, Geyserville, Glen Ellen, Guerneville, Healdsburg, Jenner, Kenwood, Monte Rio, Occidental, Rio Nido, Saint Helena, Santa Rosa, Sebastapol, Sonoma, Villa Grande and Windsor.

However, the number of affected customers in Sonoma County has now fallen from more than 38,000 to 7,207, according to PG&E's 3 p.m. update.

The Sonoma County communities now included in the shutoff are Glen Ellen, Kenwood, Santa Rosa and Calistoga.

Customers within the city of Healdsburg were advised Monday they would not lose power, as PG&E informed city officials that the city’s transmission source would not be affected.

As for areas where the PSPS was implemented early Wednesday, PG&E hopes to give the "all clear" for service restoration at about 8 a.m. Thursday, according to Mark Quinlan, PG&E's senior director for emergency preparedness and response. That will give crews all day to inspect power lines before turning power back on. The goal is to have power back on by the end of the day Thursday.

Only three Bay Area counties — Napa, Solano and Sonoma — were affected by the shutoff after a change in humidity levels reduced the fire risks for areas such as the East Bay and Santa Cruz mountains, according to PG&E.

This latest PSPS was expected to affect roughly 150,000 customers or about 345,000 people in California. PG&E says it contacted affected customers Tuesday with a 24-hour notice.

The utility company is again operating Community Resource Centers with restrooms, bottled water, electronic device charging and air conditioning with seats for up to 100 people at each center. Addresses of the CRCs can be found at Pge.com/pspsupdates.

The resource centers also will provide snacks, ice, blankets and a heater, PG&E said.

PG&E is updating its PSPS web page with information pertinent to the shutoff. Customers can also call 800-743-5000.

Santa Rosa school officials Tuesday night revised the list of schools that would be closed Wednesday because of the shutoff.

As of 9:46 p.m. Tuesday, Maria Carrillo High School was the only school expected to be closed Wednesday.

Rincon Valley Middle School, Santa Rosa Accelerated Charter School and Hidden Valley Elementary School were open.

• PREVIOUS: PG&E Shutoff In Sonoma County: Over 39K May Lose Power

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.