12:30 a.m. Update:
Dangerously windy weather sweeping through the state brought power outages to Northern California as the state's largest utility staged blackouts designed to prevent catastrophic wildfires.
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) on Wednesday began rolling blackouts stretching from the Sierra foothills in the northeast to portions of the San Francisco Bay Area. A couple of counties kept their power until after midnight.
The blackouts impact a half-million people — or nearly 180,000 customers — in 15 counties, and PG&E warned that a second round of outages could occur over the weekend when winds return to the region.
In the south, where hot, dry Santa Ana winds were expected to hit Thursday, Southern California Edison warned that it might blackout about 308,000 customers — perhaps 750,000 people — depending on the forecast.
San Diego Gas & Electric warned of power shutoffs to about 24,000 customers.
The utilities have said the precautionary blackouts are designed to keep winds that could gust to 60 mph (97 kph) or more from knocking branches into power lines or toppling them, sparking wildfires.
Electrical equipment was blamed for setting several fires in recent years that killed scores of people and burned thousands of homes.
"We understand the hardship caused by these shutoffs," PG&E CEO Bill Johnson said Wednesday. "But we also understand the heartbreak and devastation caused by catastrophic wildfires."
The latest outage comes two weeks after PG&E shut down the power for several days to about 2 million people in northern and central California.
The current outages will last about 48 hours, the utility said. But its seven-day forecast shows a likelihood of another planned blackout across a much larger area. The timing wasn't clear but it could start as early as Saturday when even heavier winds are expected to move through.
"This could be the strongest wind event of the season, unfortunately," PG&E meteorologist Scott Strenfel said.
Strenfel called the current wind event a "California-wide phenomenon." Conditions should begin easing in the northern part of the state around midday Thursday when crews will begin inspecting lines to make sure they're safe to re-energize.
That's when Santa Ana winds were expected to begin whipping up in the south.
The small city of Calistoga, in the Napa Valley, known for its hot springs and wineries, was among those hit by Wednesday's outage.
"It's very frustrating," said Michael Dunsford, owner of the 18-room Calistoga Inn, which has rented two powerful generators for the month at a cost of $5,000. Like many, he felt the outages need to be better managed, better targeted and less expansive.
"Right now, we have no wind. Zero. I don't even see a single leaf blowing. Did they really have to cut the power right now?" he said, shortly after the lights went out Wednesday afternoon and he revved up the generators. "When the wind picks up to 40 mph maybe that's a good time to close the power."
"They're not appreciating enough the impact this has on everybody," he said about PG&E.
Some of the frustration was being taken out on PG&E employees, the company's CEO said.
Johnson said Wednesday that a PG&E employee was the target of what appeared to be a deliberate attack in Glenn County. He said a projectile that may have come from a pellet gun hit the employee's front window. The employee wasn't hurt.
"There is no justification for this sort of violence," Johnson said. "Wherever you see crews they are there to help you."
Mandatory evacuations were prompted east of Geyserville after a wildfire sparked in northeastern Sonoma County along the Lake County line late Wednesday.
The Press Democrat reports that according to dispatch reports, the Kincade fire spread to about 1,000 acres by 11 p.m.
Cal Fire spokesman Will Powers said the blaze near the Geysers area was burning at a "dangerous rate."
Sonoma County Supervisor James Gore said PG&E was better this time about getting information to people who would be affected, but he was still astonished by the need to resort to large-scale blackouts.
"I am a big believer in shutdowns to prevent fires. But the thing that erodes public trust is when it doesn't make sense," he said. "You say, 'God, I know if we can put a man on the moon ... we can manage a (power) grid.'"
7:30 p.m. Update
Lights went out across large portions of Northern California on Wednesday, as the state's largest utility began its second massive blackout in two weeks and hinted that more outages could come this weekend due to the return of dangerous fire weather.
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said the rolling blackouts stretching from the Sierra foothills in the northeast to areas north of the San Francisco Bay Area would ultimately impact a half-million people — or nearly 180,000 customers — in 17 counties.
"We understand the hardship caused by these shutoffs," said Bill Johnson, CEO of PG&E. "But we also understand the heartbreak and devastation caused by catastrophic wildfires."
In a televised briefing Wednesday night, Johnson defended the unpopular power outages that the utility says are necessary to reduce the risk of wildfires during periods of high wind, hot weather and low humidity.
He also pains to address growing criticism, saying the company was doing a better job this time around communicating with the public, "working in lockstep" with local governments and state agencies and made sure its website where customers can get information was working well, after repeatedly crashing during the earlier outage.
The current outages will last about 48 hours, the utility said. But its seven-day forecast shows a likelihood of another planned blackout across a much larger area starting Saturday when even heavier winds are expected to move through.
"There could be another round of safety shut-offs this weekend into early next week. The timing isn't clear yet," said Johnson.
PG&E meteorologist Scott Strenfel said of the weekend weather: "This could be the strongest wind event of the season, unfortunately."
Strenfel called the current wind event a "California-wide phenomenon." Conditions should begin easing in the northern part of the state around midday Thursday when crews will begin inspecting lines to make sure they're safe to re-energize.
That's when Santa Ana winds are expected to begin whipping up in the south. Southern California Edison said it could cut the power Thursday to more than 308,000 customers in seven counties, and San Diego Gas & Electric was warning of power shutoffs to about 24,000 customers.
With winds forecast to top 60 mph (97 kph), utilities worried branches and debris could be thrown into power lines or topple them, sparking wildfires.
Two weeks ago, a PG&E blackout affected nearly 2 million people from Oct 9-12, prompting feelings of frustration and resignation among residents and business owners who are finding the new routine both inconvenient and expensive.
The small city of Calistoga, in the Napa Valley, known for its hot springs and wineries, was among those hit by Wednesday's outage.
"It's very frustrating," said Michael Dunsford, owner of the 18-room Calistoga Inn, which has rented two powerful generators for the month at a cost of $5,000. Like many, he feels the outages need to be better managed, better targeted and less expansive.
"Right now, we have no wind. Zero. I don't even see a single leaf blowing. Did they really have to cut the power right now?" he said, shortly after the lights went out Wednesday afternoon and he revved up the generators. "When the wind picks up to 40 mph maybe that's a good time to close the power."
"They're not appreciating enough the impact this has on everybody," he said about PG&E.
Some of the frustration was being taken out on PG&E employees, said the company's CEO.
Johnson said Wednesday that a PG&E employee was the target of what appeared to be a deliberate attack in Glenn County. He said a projectile that may have come from a pellet gun hit the employee's front window.
"There is no justification for this sort of violence," Johnson said. "Wherever you see crews they are there to help you."
Sonoma County Supervisor James Gore said PG&E was better this time about getting information to people who would be affected, but he was still astonished by the need to resort to large-scale blackouts.
"I am a big believer in shutdowns to prevent fires. But the thing that erodes public trust is when it doesn't make sense," he said. "You say, 'God, I know if we can put a man on the moon ... we can manage a (power) grid.'"
California Gov. Gavin sent a sharply worded letter to Johnson on Tuesday, blaming the unprecedented mass outage earlier this month on the company's failure to maintain and upgrade its equipment.
"I believe the unacceptable scope and duration of the previous outage — deliberately forcing 735,000 customers to endure power outages — was the direct result of decades of PG&E prioritizing profit over public safety," Newsom wrote, referring to the number of businesses and households affected, not the total number of people.
3 p.m. Update
SANTA ROSA, Calif. — Authorities say power outages have started in Northern California after the state's largest utility said it was planning a widespread blackout due to wildfire danger.
The Santa Rosa Fire Department tweeted that shutoffs had started in Santa Rosa around 3 p.m. Wednesday and it was getting multiple reports of outages.
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said earlier Wednesday it would start precautionary power shutoffs in the afternoon affecting nearly 180,000 homes and businesses — roughly a half million people — in portions of 17 counties, mostly in the Sierra foothills and north of the San Francisco Bay Area.
The utility has said the outages will last about 48 hours.
Original Story
California's largest utility said it will go ahead with widespread blackouts affecting nearly half a million people starting Wednesday as dangerous fire weather returns to California.
Pacific Gas & Electric Company said it would begin precautionary power shutoffs Wednesday afternoon to nearly 180,000 homes and businesses in portions of 17 counties, mostly in the Sierra foothills and north of the San Francisco Bay Area. The outages will last about 48 hours, the utility said.
The utilities say they're concerned that winds forecast to top 60 mph (97 kph) could throw branches and debris into power lines or topple them, sparking wildfires.
PG&E cut power to more than 2 million people across the San Francisco Bay Area in rolling blackouts from Oct. 9-12, paralyzing parts of the region in what was the largest deliberate blackout to prevent wildfires in state history. Schools and universities canceled classes and many businesses were forced to close.
PG&E's new warning just two weeks later prompted a feeling of resignation among residents and business owners and renewed rushes to stock up on emergency supplies.
"I think it's not panic per se, just, 'Eh, we gotta do this again?'" said Kim Schefer, manager of Village True Value Hardware in Santa Rosa.
Schefer was busy Tuesday directing customers to gas cans and batteries as they prepared for what many see as a costly, frustrating new routine.
Love Birds Coffee & Tea in the old Gold Rush town of Placerville lost about $6,000 in the last outage — a huge chunk of change for a mom-and-pop business and a hit from which the store hasn't yet recovered, owner Garrett Sanders said.
"Working this close to the last outage is going to be a true trial by fire," he said.
This time, Sanders plans to brew up coffee and stock up on handmade pastries before the shutoff, then sell them on the sidewalk — along with a smile — when the power goes back on.
"It's going to be a sober morning for people waking up without their coffee," he said. "We can't do, like, all of our espressos and milk-based drinks but we'll have coffee. It'll be better than nothing."
Sanders said he is sympathetic to the argument that the outages are designed to prevent wildfires, especially since a dozen people settled in Placerville after they were burned out of the town of Paradise by a fire that killed scores of people last year.
"Of course, none of us wants the devastation" of a wildfire, Sanders said, "but I think the measures that PG&E is taking are to the ultimate extreme."
California Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a sharply worded letter Tuesday to Bill Johnson, PG&E's CEO, blaming the unprecedented mass outage earlier this month on the company's failure to maintain and upgrade its equipment.
"I believe the unacceptable scope and duration of the previous outage — deliberately forcing 735,000 customers to endure power outages — was the direct result of decades of PG&E prioritizing profit over public safety," the Democrat wrote, referring to the number of businesses and households affected, not the total number of people.
PG&E says the shutdowns are not about money.
The only goal "is to prevent a catastrophic wildfire," Johnson said in a Tuesday briefing.
RELATED PG&E CONTENT:
- Here's where and when PG&E could be shutting power to 179,000 customers across 17 counties | Updates
- PG&E power shutoffs resources | Need to know
- How community leaders plan to act for future PG&E power shutoffs
- PG&E: Historic power outage was the 'right call' after 100+ incidents of damage, hazards found
- PG&E says system had 100 incidents of damage during power shutoff
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