PG&E Public Safety Power Shutoff To Begin In Contra Costa County

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA — Pacific Gas and Electric Company moved ahead Wednesday with a public safety power shutoff expected to impact 37,000 customers, including 201 customers in the Mt. Diablo area of Contra Costa County.

• UPDATE: PG&E Calls Off East Bay Power Shutoff

"PG&E will de-energize certain electrical lines for safety over the course of this evening (Wednesday, Oct. 21) as part of a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS)," the utility company said Wednesday afternoon. "PG&E is calling a PSPS due to a high-wind event combined with low humidity and severely dry vegetation, that together create high risk of catastrophic wildfires."

The number of customers impacted decreased by 31 percent because of changes in the weather forecast, PG&E said. Instead of 54,000 customers affected in 19 counties, Wednesday's shutoff is expected to affect customers in 15 counties and two tribal communities.

Counties removed from the scope of this PSPS included Lassen, Solano, Stanislaus and Yuba.

Counties remaining in scope include: Alameda, Butte, Colusa, Contra Costa, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Napa, Plumas, Santa Clara, Shasta, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity and Yolo.

PG&E said customers were notified of the decision to shut off power Wednesday afternoon after receiving initial customer notifications Monday. Customers who were removed from the scope Wednesday were notified of the cancellation.

PG&E said it plans to begin de-energizing lines at 8 p.m. Wednesday; the de-energization process will continue throughout the night, depending upon location, across the Sacramento Valley, Northern Sierra, and elevated terrain of the North and East Bay.

"All of these areas are covered by National Weather Service Red Flag Warnings, indicating critical fire weather conditions," PG&E said.

Once the weather subsides Friday morning and it’s safe to do so, PG&E will patrol the de-energized lines to determine if they were damaged during the wind event and repair any damage found.

PG&E will then "safely restore power in stages and as quickly as possible, with the goal of restoring power to nearly all customers within 12 daylight hours after severe weather has passed," the company said.

Red Flag Warning

According to the National Weather Service San Francisco Bay Area: "A Red Flag Warning has been issued for the North Bay Mountains, East Bay Hills, and East Bay Interior Valleys, valid beginning 10 PM PDT on Wednesday October 21st through 08 AM Friday October 23rd.

"Winds will continue to be north-northeasterly and are forecast to increase over the highest peaks and ridges to 10 to 25 mph, with gusts generally up to 40 mph.

"When the Fire Weather Watch was upgraded to this warning, it was decided to include all of East Bay Valley, although the strongest wind gusts are expected to be the hills. The San Mateo Coast has also been added, as winds from the mountains are expected to accelerate as they mix down to the coast, especially from Half Moon Bay southward.

"These offshore winds will provide critical fire conditions with dry humidity values through the event, and even drier conditions overnight Thursday and into Friday with poor humidity recovery expected due to marine layer influence being overrun by the offshore winds."

Community Resource Centers To Open For Impacted Customers

The utility company is opening 21 Community Resource Centers to serve impacted customers, starting at 7 p.m. Wednesday until 10 p.m.

Starting Thursday morning, CRCs will remain open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily until power is restored.

These temporary CRCs will be open to customers when power is out at their homes and will provide ADA-accessible restrooms, hand-washing stations, medical-equipment charging, WiFi; bottled water, grab-and-go bags and non-perishable snacks.

The PSPS will impact 36,874 customers in the following 15 counties:

Alameda County: 336 customers, 16 Medical Baseline customers

Butte County: 10,259 customers, 922 Medical Baseline customers

Colusa County: 4 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers

Contra Costa County: 201 customers, 10 Medical Baseline customers

Glenn County: 162 customers, 7 Medical Baseline customers

Humboldt County: 288 customers, 5 Medical Baseline customers

Lake County: 127 customers, 6 Medical Baseline customers

Napa County: 3,296 customers, 120 Medical Baseline customers

Plumas County: 434 customers, 8 Medical Baseline customers

Santa Clara County: 236 customers, 9 Medical Baseline customers

Shasta County: 18,480 customers, 1,464 Medical Baseline customers

Sonoma County: 135 customers, 5 Medical Baseline customers

Tehama County: 2,511 customers, 189 Medical Baseline customers

Trinity County: 395 customers, 21 Medical Baseline customers

Yolo County: 10 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers

Customers in the tribal communities of Grindstone Rancheria and Pit River – Montgomery Creek Rancheria, Roaring Creek Rancheria are also impacted.

Customers can look up their address online to find out if their location is being monitored for the potential safety shutoff at Pge.com/pspsupdates.