PG&E Weekend Power Outages Announced In San Anselmo, Fairfax

READ THIS UPDATE: PG&E Will Shut Off Power To Over 118,500 Customers In Marin

SAN ANSELMO-FAIRFAX, CA — As many as 850,000 Pacific Gas and Electric Company customers could lose power this weekend — including nearly 87,000 in Marin County — in the latest public safety power shutoff triggered by fire weather conditions.

Forecasted high winds and dry air could be one of the most powerful wind events in Northern California in decades, according to PG&E, with widespread winds of up to 60 miles per hour and gusts reaching up to 70 miles per hour in higher elevations.

The expected shutoffs are expected to begin Saturday evening and last through Monday. Customers in portions of 36 counties could lose power at some point.

All Bay Area counties except San Francisco are expected to experience outages over the next three days. Nearly 400,000 customers in the Bay Area could lose power.

That includes 57,360 customers in Alameda County, 48,824 in Contra Costa County, 86,813 in Marin County, 11,294 in Napa County, 64,932 in San Mateo County, 27,093 in Santa Clara County, 10,232 in Solano County and 92,877 in Sonoma County.

Customers could potentially be impacted in the following cities and communities in Marin County: Belvedere, Bolinas, Corte Madera, Dillon Beach, Fairfax, Fallon, Forest Knolls, Greenbrae, Inverness, Kentfield, Lagunitas, Larkspur, Marshall, Mill Valley, Muir Beach, Nicasio, Novato, Olema, Point Reyes Station, Ross, San Anselmo, San Geronimo, San Rafael, Sausalito, Stinson Beach, Tiburon, Tomales and Woodacre.

(Find out if your address is impacted.)

The Marin County Sheriff's Office of Emergency Service is putting into motion its "Electrical System De-energization Response Plan." Additionally, it is coordinating with nearby response partners to monitor the power situation.The Emergency Operations Center will be activated in the event of the shutoff.

"We are being proactive and mobilizing our resources due to the potential power loss and increased fire threat," said Supervisor Kate Sears, president of the Marin County Board of Supervisors. "Public safety is our No. 1 priority, and we will focus our efforts to ensure the safety and security of our residents — especially those with access and functional needs whose health could be impacted by the loss of power."

The planned duration of the possible shutoff is unknown and will be determined by PG&E.

"We'll work alongside PG&E's staff to communicate updates using all our outreach tools," Sears said.

The shutdown could be even bigger than the shutdown that began on Oct. 9. Roughly 738,000 customers in 34 counties lost power at some point during that outage. PG&E was widely criticized for the company's handling of the event, including for poor communication with customers and local governments.

PG&E has been shutting off power proactively to prevent wildfires after utility lines started massively deadly and destructive fires over the last two years. PG&E has estimated that similar power shutoffs may be necessary for the next decade until the utility can upgrade its technology.

But despite a power shutoff in Sonoma County on Wednesday night, an investigation has begun into damaged PG&E equipment found near the origin of the Kincade fire.

The blaze has scorched 21,900 acres and destroyed 21 homes as of Friday afternoon and was only 5 percent contained.

Bay City News Service and Kristina Houck/Patch contributed to this report.