Power restored to all Bay Area customers

PG&E crews have restored power to all San Francisco Bay Area customers as of Tuesday evening, a PG&E spokeswoman said.

As of 5:38 p.m., all Bay Area customers had power again while about 1,828 customers were still without power in the counties of Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado and Lake, spokeswoman Tamar Sarkissian said.

PG&E crews are trying to restore power Tuesday to all customers in the affected areas, except in heavily damaged areas, she said.

In the recent weather, which included gusty winds, some equipment was potentially damaged.

Portions of the North Bay experienced wind speeds of over 60 mph and gusts of up to 70 mph, PG&E spokeswoman Melissa Subbotin said this morning.

Sarkissian said crews are working to repair damage before beginning the testing process and bringing power back up.

Sunday, PG&E shut off power to about 59,000 customers in six California counties, including Napa and Sonoma counties, because the risk of wildfires was high.

Sarkissian said, “This is all part of our new normal” to ensure the safety of PG&E customers and communities.

She said:

“It’s only done in the most extreme of circumstances.”

PG&E officials made the decision Sunday to shut off power because of the gusty winds as well as low humidity and warm temperatures.

Other factors also sometimes come into play, Sarkissian said.

PG&E is “continuously monitoring the weather,” she said. The utility has a center that is open 24/7 during fire season and it has 100 weather stations in Northern and Central California.