PG&E might cut power for thousands Monday. Here’s the plan for the Fresno County area
Pacific Gas & Electric announced a possible Public Safety Power Shutoff to around 44,000 customers in 32 counties starting Monday morning due to a weather system that could send dry, gusty offshore winds across the state, significantly increasing wildfire risk.
The potential power shutoffs could begin in the morning in portions of the San Joaquin foothills, the North Valley, and Sacramento. The Valley, along with the Northern Sierra Foothills, North Bay, North Coast regions, Bay Area hills, could be impacted in the evening, depending on wind conditions.
In the Valley, the counties that potentially could be impacted by a shutoff include:
Fresno: 5,008 customers, 436 medical baseline customers
Kern: 7 customers, 0 medical baseline customers
Kings: 10 customers, 0 medical baseline customers
Madera: 2,884 customers, 225 medical baseline customers
Mariposa: 778 customers, 73 medical baseline customers
Merced: 20 customers, 0 medical baseline customers
San Joaquin: 2 customers, 0 medical baseline customers
And, elsewhere in the state:
Alameda: 134 customers, 10 medical baseline customers
Butte: 769 customers, 69 medical baseline customers
Calaveras: 2,536 customers, 188 medical baseline customers
Contra Costa: 601 customers, 40 medical baseline customers
El Dorado: 303 customers, 20 medical baseline customers
Glenn: 377 customers, 22 medical baseline customers
Lake: 4,094 customers, 307 medical baseline customers
Monterey: 845 customers, 27 medical baseline customers
Napa: 207 customers, 107 medical baseline customers
Nevada: 3 customers, 0 medical baseline customers
Placer: 5,975 customers, 388 medical baseline customers
Plumas: 309 customers, 4 medical baseline customers
San Benito: 84 customers, 2 medical baseline customers
San Luis Obispo: 205 customers, 2 medical baseline customers
Santa Barbara: 19 customers, 1 medical baseline customers
Shasta: 2,557 customers, 197 medical baseline customers
Sierra: 2 customers, 0 medical baseline customers
Solano: 4,559 customers, 423 medical baseline customers
Tehama: 6,148 customers, 624 medical baseline customers
Tuolumne: 673 customers, 68 medical baseline customers
Yolo: 515 customers, 16 medical baseline customers
Yuba: 1,226 customers, 114 medical baseline customers
Tribal areas potentially impacted:
Big Sandy Rancheria: 61 customers
Cold Springs Rancheria of Mono Indians: 54 customers
Cortina Rancheria: 8 customers
Grindstone Rancheria: 50 customers
North Fork Rancheria: 25 customers
Pit River Tribes: 8 customers
United Auburn Indian Community: 1 customer
Eleven wildfires were burning across California on Sunday, including the KNP Complex in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and the Windy Fire in the Sequoia National Forest and Tule River Indian Reservation in Tulare County, and the French Fire in Kern County.
PG&E and its meteorologists review a combination of factors when deciding if power must be turned off, including low humidity levels, forecast sustained high winds of more than 20 miles per hour and gusts from 30 to 40 miles per hour, and the condition of dry materials on the ground.
The presence of trees tall enough to strike power lines also is a factor in issuing a PSPS.