Forecasted High Wind Event Means PG&E Might Need to Proactively Turn Off Power for Safety for About 54,000 Customers in Porti...
October 20 2020 - 5:55PM
Business Wire
Customers Who Might Be Affected by the Public
Safety Power Shutoff Are Receiving One-Day Notifications
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) continues to monitor
a potentially strong and dry offshore wind event forecasted to
start Wednesday evening. Given the expected conditions, PG&E
began its one-day advance notifications to customers in areas where
PG&E may need to proactively turn power off for safety to
reduce the risk of wildfire from energized power lines.
Potential Public Safety Power Shutoff Wednesday evening
through Friday morning
The potential PSPS starting Wednesday evening could impact
approximately 54,000 customers in portions of 19 counties in the
Northern Sacramento Valley and adjacent elevated terrain, the
Northern Sierra Nevada generally north of I-80, the North Bay
mountains, and Mt. Diablo in the East Bay. Specifically, customers
in portions of the following counties are being notified: Alameda,
Butte, Colusa, Contra Costa, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Napa,
Plumas, Santa Clara, Shasta, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Tehama,
Trinity, Yolo and Yuba.
The potential PSPS event is still approximately 24 hours away.
PG&E’s in-house meteorologists, its Wildfire Safety Operations
Center and its Emergency Operations Center, continue to monitor
conditions closely and additional customer notifications will be
shared over the next few days.
Customer notifications—via text, email and automated phone
call—began Monday afternoon, approximately two days prior to the
potential shutoff. Customers enrolled in the company’s Medical
Baseline program who do not verify that they have received these
important safety communications will be individually visited in
person by a PG&E employee when possible. A primary focus will
be given to customers who rely on electricity for critical
life-sustaining equipment.
The sole purpose of a PSPS is to reduce the risk of major
wildfires during severe weather. While a PSPS is an important
wildfire safety tool, PG&E understands that losing power
disrupts lives, especially for customers sheltering-at-home in
response to COVID-19.
Potentially Impacted Counties
The potential shutoff is currently expected to impact
approximately 54,000 customers in the following 19 counties:
- Alameda County: 470 customers, 24 Medical Baseline
customers
- Butte County: 11,291 customers, 988 Medical Baseline
customers
- Colusa County: 565 customers, 32 Medical Baseline
customers
- Contra Costa County: 563 customers, 45 Medical Baseline
customers
- Glenn County: 377 customers, 18 Medical Baseline customers
- Humboldt County: 298 customers, 5 Medical Baseline
customers
- Lake County: 963 customers, 69 Medical Baseline customers
- Lassen County: 319 customers, 17 Medical Baseline
customers
- Napa County: 4,316 customers, 175 Medical Baseline
customers
- Plumas County: 781 customers, 25 Medical Baseline
customers
- Santa Clara County: 236 customers, 9 Medical Baseline
customers
- Shasta County: 22,760 customers, 1,794 Medical Baseline
customers
- Solano County: 49 customers, 4 Medical Baseline customers
- Sonoma County: 960 customers, 35 Medical Baseline
customers
- Stanislaus County: 33 customers, 0 Medical Baseline
customers
- Tehama County: 7,759 customers, 665 Medical Baseline
customers
- Trinity County: 458 customers, 21 Medical Baseline
customers
- Yolo County: 11 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
- Yuba County: 1,324 customers, 96 Medical Baseline
customers
- Total*: 53,533 customers, 4,022 Medical Baseline customers
*The following Tribal Community counts are included within the
County level detail above.
- Cortina Rancheria Tribal community: 8 customers, 1 Medical
Baseline customer
- Grindstone Rancheria Tribal community: 49 customers, 3 Medical
Baseline customers
Customers can look up their address online to find out if their
location is being monitored for the potential safety shutoff at
www.pge.com/pspsupdates.
Community Resource Centers Reflect COVID-Safety
Protocols
PG&E will open Community Resource Centers (CRCs) to support
our customers. These temporary CRCs will be open to customers when
power is out at their homes and will provide ADA-accessible
restrooms and hand-washing stations; medical-equipment charging;
Wi-Fi; bottled water; and non-perishable snacks.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, all CRCs will follow
important health and safety protocols including:
- Facial coverings and maintaining a physical distance of at
least six feet from those who are not part of the same household
will be required at all CRCs.
- Temperature checks will be administered before entering CRCs
that are located indoors.
- CRC staff will be trained in COVID-19 precautions and will
regularly sanitize surfaces and use Plexiglass barriers at
check-in.
- All CRCs will follow county and state requirements regarding
COVID-19, including limits on the number of customers permitted
indoors at any time.
Besides these health protocols, customers visiting a CRC in 2020
will experience further changes, including a different look and
feel. In addition to using existing indoor facilities, PG&E is
planning to open CRCs at outdoor, open-air sites in some locations
and use large commercial vans as CRCs in other locations. CRC
locations will depend on a number of factors, including input from
local and tribal leaders. Outdoor CRCs will provide grab-and-go
supply bags so most customers can be on their way quickly.
Here’s Where to Go to Learn More
- PG&E’s emergency website (pge.com/pspsupdates) is now
available in 13 languages. Currently, the website is available in
English, Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Russian, Vietnamese, Korean,
Farsi, Arabic, Hmong, Khmer, Punjabi and Japanese. Customers will
have the opportunity to choose their language of preference for
viewing the information when visiting the website.
- Customers are encouraged to update their contact information
and indicate their preferred language for notifications by visiting
www.pge.com/mywildfirealerts or by calling 1-800-743-5000, where
in-language support is available.
- Tenants and non-account holders can sign up to receive PSPS ZIP
Code Alerts for any area where you do not have a PG&E account
by visiting pge.com/pspszipcodealerts.
- PG&E has launched a new tool at its online Safety Action
Center (safetyactioncenter.pge.com) to help customers prepare. By
using the "Make Your Own Emergency Plan" tool and answering a few
short questions, visitors to the website can compile and organize
the important information needed for a personalized family
emergency plan. This includes phone numbers, escape routes and a
family meeting location if an evacuation is necessary.
About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E
Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas
and electric energy companies in the United States. Based in San
Francisco, with more than 23,000 employees, the company delivers
some of the nation's cleanest energy to 16 million people in
Northern and Central California. For more information, visit
pge.com and pge.com/news.
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