News Press Releases

Electric Service Restored to All Butte, Plumas and Yuba County PG&E Customers Affected by Saturday Night's PSPS Event

PCG | October 6, 2019

SAN FRANCISCO

PG&E Monitoring Weather for a Potential, Midweek, Severe Wind Event

As of 4:00 p.m. today, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has restored power to all customers affected by the Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) initiated on Saturday, Oct. 5. PG&E had proactively shut down power for safety at approximately 10:00 p.m. on Saturday night based on forecasts of dry, hot and windy weather in Butte, Plumas and Yuba counties, affecting some 10,328 customers.

PSPS Restoration Update

Once the weather subsided Sunday morning, PG&E personnel and aerial resources responded for inspections, repairs and restoration. PG&E crews visually inspected approximately 954 miles of power lines to ensure they were free of damage and safe to energize. PG&E crews were able to restore power to all customers this afternoon.

During safety inspections, crews found two instances of damage to de-energized equipment caused by the weather and made necessary repairs. We are still analyzing our findings and will include this information in our required reporting with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) due within 10 days of initiating a PSPS.

“The safety of our customers and the communities we serve is our most important responsibility, and with each Public Safety Power Shutoff, we work to further refine the processes we've developed to keep people safe and restore power as quickly as possible," said Michael Lewis, senior vice president of Electric Operations, PG&E. “We know how much our customers rely on electric service, and we appreciate our communities' understanding as we turned off power for safety this weekend. We ask that all of our customers use this event as a reminder to revisit their emergency plans and build or restock their emergency kits to prepare for emergencies during wildfire season and beyond.”

Potential, Midweek, Severe Wind Event

Looking ahead, PG&E’s meteorological and operations teams are monitoring weather models multiple times a day. At present, models indicate a widespread, strong and dry wind event Wednesday through Thursday this coming week with the main period of weather risk early Wednesday morning through Thursday midday. The dry, windy weather pattern is expected to reach from the northern portions of PG&E’s service territory and down through the Sacramento Valley before spreading into the central areas of the state including most of the Bay Area.

The National Weather Service has issued a Fire Weather Watch for vast portions of Northern California for midweek. PG&E will continue to monitor the situation around the clock and provide updates about this evolving weather event on a daily basis.

How Customers Can Prepare

As part of PSPS preparedness efforts, PG&E is asking customers to:

Update their contact information at pge.com/mywildfirealerts or by calling 1-866-743-6589 during normal business hours. PG&E will use this information to alert customers through automated calls, texts, and emails, when possible, prior to, and during, a Public Safety Power Shutoff.
Plan for medical needs like medications that require refrigeration or devices that need power.
Identify backup charging methods for phones and keep hard copies of emergency numbers.
Build or restock your emergency kit with flashlights, fresh batteries, first aid supplies and cash.
Keep in mind family members who are elderly, younger children and pets. Information and tips including a safety plan checklist are available at pge.com/wildfiresafety.

While customers in high fire-threat areas are more likely to be affected by a Public Safety Power Shutoff event, any of PG&E's more than 5 million electric customers could have their power shut off because the energy system relies on power lines working together to provide electricity across cities, counties and regions.

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 company 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 15 million people in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com/ and http://www.pge.com/about/newsroom/.