PG&E Power Shutoff Latest: 74K Affected In Sonoma Co., North Bay

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — The first of three phases in a widespread PG&E public safety power outage was implemented early Wednesday morning, leaving more than 74,000 customers in the North Bay and 513,000 across Northern California in the dark. The utility giant started cutting power at 12 a.m. across significant portions of its service territory, including in Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Marin, Yolo, Lake, Mendocino and Colusa counties.

Solano, Sonoma and Napa counties the hardest hit as of 2 a.m. Wednesday. The city of Fairfield had 17,963 customers powerless, while 13,665 were without power in Vacaville. The outage was affecting 19,357 PG&E customers in Napa, 15,925 in the city of Sonoma, 6,685 in St. Helena and 3,321 in Calistoga.

In Santa Rosa, 8,140 customers were affected, while in Rohnert Park there were 2,105 without power. Sausalito had 2,564 affected by the outage, while 2,034 in Tamalpais-Homestead Valley had no electric service.

Several unincorporated areas in Napa, Marin, Solano and Sonoma counties were also hit hard with power outages.

The Sonoma Police Department said all of the city of Sonoma, as well as communities in the Sonoma Valley, are without power. Intersections are operating as four-way stops in the city of Sonoma, police said.

The city of Fairfield Police Department asked residents to "not just drive through the intersection. Look both ways before you proceed."

The Napa County Office of Emergency Services at 6:29 a.m. said that because of the outage, "many traffic lights are not working."

In Calistoga, the city said at 7 a.m. that its generators were down. PG&E is aware of the problem and is working with the city to resolve the situation but there was no time for restoration, city officials said.

The Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport is operating under full power without generators Wednesday and will remain open if the PG&E Public Safety Power Shutoff affects the site, an airport spokeswoman said.

Hospitals in Sonoma and Napa counties have not been affected by the shutoff. Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, Petaluma Valley Hospital in Petaluma and Queen of the Valley Hospital in Napa are fully operational, said Christian Hill, a spokesman for the organization St. Joseph Health that oversees the hospitals.

Hill said pockets in the cities of Sonoma and Napa had a power shutdown, but the hospitals were not affected.

A spokesman for Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital said the hospital did not have power shut off and is operating normally.

Santa Rosa Junior College campuses will remain closed Thursday and Sonoma State University will remain closed through Friday due to PG&E's Public Safety Power Shutoff, school officials said Wednesday.

The closure applies to online classes and activities at SRJC. The junior college will monitor the situation and provide updates as more information becomes available, spokeswoman Erin Bricker said.

Sonoma State University said it lost power to internet and network services on campus, and the best way to receive updates is by calling its emergency hotline at 888-533-5388 or checking Facebook or Twitter.

Outage-related school closures in Sonoma County:

• Bennett Valley Union School District (closed Wednesday, Oct. 9)
• Cloverdale Unified School District (closed Wednesday, Oct. 9)
• Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District (closed Wednesday, Oct. 9)
• Credo High Charter School (closed Wednesday, Oct. 9)
• Empire College (closed Wednesday and Thursday)
• Geyserville Unified School District (closed Wednesday, Oct. 9)
• Horicon School District (closed Wednesday, Oct. 9)
• Kashia School District (closed Wednesday, Oct. 9)
• Kenilworth Junior High (closed Wednesday, Oct. 9)
• Mark West Union School District (closed Wednesday with a projected closure on Thursday, Oct. 10 as well)
• Old Adobe Union School District: Only Sonoma Mountain and Old Adobe charter schools closed for Wednesday, Oct. 9
• Piner-Olivet Union School District (closed Wednesday)
• Rincon Valley School District (closed Wednesday; decisions for Thursday and Friday pending)
• Santa Rosa City Schools—only the following schools as of now. The district website should be checked for updates.
  • Maria Carrillo High
  • Rincon Valley Middle
  • Santa Rosa Middle
  • Hidden Valley Elementary
  • Proctor Terrace Elementary
  • Santa Rosa Accelerated Charter School
  • Lewis Education Center
• Sonoma Valley Unified School District (closed Wednesday through Friday)
• Sonoma County Office of Education: Skylane campus, El Colegio preschool, and Transition classes will be closed Wednesday, October 9.
• Waugh School District (closed Wednesday with non-student days on Thursday and Friday, with teachers still running conferences)
• West Side Union School District (closed Wednesday)
• Windsor Unified School District (closed Wednesday with a projected closure on Thursday, October 10 as well)

For Sonoma County residents affected by the outage, PG&E has opened community resource Centers at the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building 1351 Maple Ave. in Santa Rosa and at the Sonoma Veterans Building, 126 1st St W. in Sonoma.

PG&E officials say these spots will remain open during daylight hours and provide access to restrooms, bottled water, electronic-device charging and air-conditioned seating for up to 100 people.

The city of Rohnert Park is also operating a charging station with power strips at the Burton Recreation Center, 7421 Burton Ave.

In Lake County, a PG&E community resource center is open at the Clearlake Senior Center, 3245 Bowers Ave. in Clearlake.

PG&E said it made the decision to turn off power based on forecasts of dry, hot and windy weather including potential fire risk. PG&E anticipates the weather event, which includes a red flag warning for the North Bay and East Bay, will last through midday Thursday.

Other counties impacted by the first phase early Wednesday morning included: Amador, Butte, Calaveras, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Marin, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Tehama, Trinity and Yuba counties.

The second phase, according to PG&E, will start around noon Wednesday and will impact another 234,000 customers in Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Alameda, San Mateo, Alpine, Mariposa and San Joaquin counties.

"A third phase is being considered for the southernmost portions of PG&E’s service area, impacting approximately 42,000 customers," said PG&E Spokeswoman Deanna Contreras.

Peak winds forecasted from Wednesday morning through Thursday morning and reaching 60 to 70 mph at higher elevations.

"The safety of our customers and the communities we serve is our most important responsibility, which is why PG&E has decided to turn power off to customers during this widespread, severe wind event," said Michael Lewis, PG&E’s senior vice president of Electric Operations.

"We understand the effects this event will have on our customers and appreciate the public’s patience as we do what is necessary to keep our communities safe and reduce the risk of wildfire," Lewis said.

Patch will update this post throughout the day Wednesday as more information is gathered; please refresh the page for the latest.

— Bay City News Service contributed to this report.