CALIFORNIA, USA — Pacific Gas & Electric [PG&E] is continuing to warn customers in Fresno, Kern, Madera, Mariposa, Tulare, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties that they could have their power shut off due to high winds and fire danger.
An estimated 5,465 customers could be impacted in those areas starting Tuesday, Jan 19. The estimated shutoff time is between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m., with power expected to be restored as early as Wednesday at 8 p.m.
The shutoffs would be part of PG&E's Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS), which occur when there are dangerous conditions that could lead to wildfires. A dry winter, combined with high winds and warmer than average January temperatures, have caused some concern that downed powerlines could spark a wildfire.
In a recent statement, PG&E said, "in a normal winter, PSPS would not be under consideration as soil moistures, dead fuel moistures and a significant green flush of winter grass would be widespread, but this winter has been very abnormal. The National Weather Service has High Wind Warnings and Fire Weather Watches active for this event."
At the same time, some local areas are reporting outages due to equipment issues, likely due in part to the high winds. In Butte County, an outage affecting anywhere from 49 to 499 customers in Magalia is expected to be fixed at 12:30 p.m. Monday, according to PG&E's outage map. Another outage in Paradise began in the early morning hours on Monday due to an "equipment issue" and is expected to be resolved by 3 p.m.
Here is how many customers in each county could be affected by the PSPS:
- Mariposa - 2236
- Fresno - 1823
- Madera - 288
- Tulare - 435
- Kern - 23
- Santa Barbara - 287
- San Luis Obispo - 373
These numbers represent a slight decrease from the estimates PG&E gave last night of customers that could see their power shutoff in the coming days. The total number given on Sunday night was 6,100 customers.
