PG&E announces increased power outage scope impacting 34 counties

PG&E announced Tuesday afternoon that the utility will be implementing a Public Safety Power Shutoff in portions of 34 counties around California starting early Wednesday because of dry and windy weather in the forecast, affecting nearly 800,000 customers.

PG&E is implementing the preemptive power shutdowns just after midnight to try to avoid sparking a wildfire during a weather event that could bring winds of 40 to 55 mph, with gusts as high as 60-70 mph through midday Thursday.

The utility had initially identified parts of 30 counties in its service area that would be affected, but on Tuesday said parts of Marin, Humboldt, Trinity and Kern counties have been added to the scope of the shutoff.

PG&E has asked people to visit their website at www.pge.com/psps for information on the specific areas affected by the shutdown, but the site has been down for hours Tuesday.

The utility wrote on Twitter to apologize for the website problems.

“We are currently experiencing high volume of traffic to our website & understand your frustration w/ the delay of accessing #PSPS related web pages,” PG&E wrote. “We apologize for the convenience and thank you for your patience as our team is working as quickly as possible to restore access.”

PG&E is also asking people to call (877) 9000-PGE to receive phone call alerts or to text “ENROLL” to 97633 to receive text alerts about the shutdowns.

PG&E will open community resource centers in various counties starting at 8 a.m. Wednesday. The centers will feature restrooms, bottled water, electronic device charging and air conditioned seating for up to 100 people per facility.

A list of the centers can be found at
https://www.pgecurrents.com/2019/10/08/pge-will-proactively-turn-off-power-for-safety-to-nearly-800000-customers-across-northern-and-central-california/.