PG&E crews have restored power to the vast majority of customers impacted by the latest round of power shutoffs, the company announced Thursday night.
About 178,000 customers in 18 counties were originality impacted by the shutoffs which began Wednesday afternoon. In their Thursday night update, PG&E said it had restored electricity to nearly 165,000 customers.
More than 6,000 on-the-ground field personnel were deployed as well as 42 helicopters that were staged in the impacted areas, according to PG&E.
The company said it expects all customers to be restored by Friday, pending any damage to equipment.
The blackouts started around 2 p.m. on Oct. 23 with the Sierra Foothills and was followed by the outages for the North Bay counties. Shutoffs to Kern County and San Mateo County followed the next day.
Many of the communities barely had a chance to regroup from the last PG&E power shutoff earlier this month before being notified of another. PG&E said it expects to have power restored no more than 48 hours after the windy and dry weather passes.
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As the power shutoff continues for many people, some areas have already seen areas being re-energized. According to the Nevada County Office of Emergency Services, low fire risk sections and high priority areas were being re-energized Wednesday evening.
PG&E confirmed that all counties impacted by the power shutoff, with the exception of Kern County, have been given the "all clear." Crews are now inspecting lines for possible damage before they restore power.
As the utility works on restoring power to areas impacted by the power shutoff, they're also notifying counties of another massive Public Safety Power Shutoff expected for the weekend throughout Northern California starting Saturday night and lasting into Monday.
The shutdown could affect 2 million people, much like a widespread pre-emptive blackout earlier this month.
It would be the third such shutdown in three weeks.
Utility officials said Thursday that forecasters are warning of the strongest winds this season, and possibly the strongest winds in years. They said hot, dry winds could knock over utility equipment and spark wildfires.
PG&E chief executive Bill Johnson said the utility will have a better idea Friday of which areas would lose power and how long the outages might last.
Notice was given to counties in the Sierra foothills and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Earlier this month, PG&E shut off power to more than 800,000 customers across the state, effectively leaving millions of people without power for days. The result was customers and state officials criticizing the state's largest utility, which has a power grid that spans nearly all of California and gives electricity to about 40% of the state's residents.
Still, PG&E says its preemptive blackouts earlier this month worked, as more than 100 incidents of damages and hazards were found during an inspection of the utility's power lines.
PG&E transmission lines caused wildfires that killed more than 100 people in 2017 and 2018, including the Camp Fire, California's deadliest in modern history.
A full list of counties and cities affected by the shutoffs below.
- Alpine County
- Cities: Bear Valley, Unincorporated areas
- Customers impacted: 634
- Amador County
- Cities: Fiddletown, Jackson, Pine Grove, Pioneer, Plymouth, River Pines, Sutter Creek, Volcano
- Customers impacted: 10,420
- Butte County
- Cities: Bangor, Berry Creek, Brush Creek, Butte Meadows, Butte Valley, Chico, Clipper Mills, Cohasset, Concow, Feather Falls, Forbestown, Forest Ranch, Hurleton, Magalia, East Oroville, Oroville, Palermo, Paradise, Paradise Pines, Rackerby, Stirling City, Yankee Hill
- Customers impacted: 17,787
- Calaveras County
- Cities: Arnold, Avery, Camp Connell, Dorrington, Douglas Flat, Glencoe, Hathaway Pines, Mokelumne Hill, Mountain Ranch, Murphys, Rail Road Flat, Sheep Ranch, Tamarack, West Point, White Pines, Wilseyville
- Customers impacted: 14,235
- El Dorado County
- Cities: Aukum, Cameron Park, Canyon, Camino, Coloma, Cool, Diamond Springs, El Dorado, Fair Play, Garden Valley, Georgetown, Greenwood, Grizzly Flats, Kelsey, Kyburz, Lotus, Mount Aukum, Omo Ranch, Pacific House, Pilot Hill, Placerville, Pollock Pines, Rescue, Shingle Springs, Silver Fork, Somerset, Twin Bridges
- Customers impacted: 39,705
- Lake County
- Cities: Cobb, Loch Lomond, Middletown, unincorporated areas south of Kelseyville
- Customers impacted: 341
- Kern County
- Cities: Arvin, Bakersfield, Lebec
- Customers Impacted: 33
- Mendocino County
- Cities: Comminsky Station, Potter Valley, Yorkville
- Customers impacted: 317
- Napa County
- Cities: Angwin, Calistoga, Deer Park, Lake Berryessa, Oakville, Pope Valley, Rutherford, St Helena
- Customers impacted: 7,085
- Nevada County
- Cities: Cedar Ridge, Chicago Park, Emigrant Park, Grass Valley, Nevada City, North San Juan, Penn Valley, Rough And Ready, Smartville, Washington
- Customers impacted: 42,383
- Placer County
- Cities: Alta, Applegate, Auburn, Baxter, Colfax, Dutch Flat, Emigrant Gap, Foresthill, Gold Run, Meadow Vista, Newcastle, Sheridan, Weimar, Christian Valley, Unincorporated areas of Placer County North and West of Lincoln
- Customers impacted: 13,410
- Plumas County
- Cities: La Porte
- Customers impacted: 344
- San Mateo County
- Cities: La Honda, San Gregorio, Woodside, unincorporated San Mateo County
- Customers impacted: 1005
- Sierra County
- Cities: Alleghany, Downieville, Goodyears Bar, Pike, Sierra City
- Customers impacted: 1,160
- Sonoma County
- Cities: Annapolis, Boyes Hot Springs, Cloverdale, Fulton, Geyserville, Glen Ellen, Guerneville, Healdsburg, Kenwood, Larkfield, Santa Rosa, Sonoma, Windsor, Stewarts Point
- Customers impacted: 27.837
- Tehama County
- Cities: Manton, Mill Creek, Mineral, Paynes Creek, and Red Bluff
- Customers impacted: 748
- Yuba County
- Cities: Browns Valley, Brownsville, Camptonville, Challenge, Dobbins, Loma Rica, Oregon House, Rackerby, Smartsville, Strawberry Valley, Wheatland
- Customers impacted: 5,503
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