Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) updated its possible Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) alert this morning, stating that they continue to monitor a potentially strong and dry offshore wind event forecasted to start Wednesday evening.  Given the expected conditions, PG&E began its one-day advance notifications to customers in areas where PG&E may need to proactively turn power off for safety to reduce the risk of wildfire from energized power lines.

PG&E was more precise on the impacted areas, though continuing to say the PSPS event would impact approximately 54,000 customers (about 162,000 people) in targeted portions of 24 counties.

PG&E said they began notifications to the following counties:  Alameda, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Humboldt, Lake, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Solano, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Yolo, and Yuba.  PG&E added that a small number of customers in two tribal communities also may be affected.

PG&E said that its in-house meteorologists, as well as its Wildfire Safety Operation Center (WSOC) and Emergency Operations Center (EOC) will continue to monitor conditions closely, and additional customer notifications will be issued as the potential event materializes.

Outages will likely begin sometime Wednesday afternoon and continue through late Friday, so there is the potential for some customers to be without power for as long as 3 days.  The National Weather Service (NWS) said that red-flag fire warnings are in effect across Northern California from the Oregon border to the Bay Area as dry winds sweep the region.

NWS’ report also stated that as winds subside in Northern California Thursday, they are likely to pick up in the Southern half of the State.  Temperatures in Los Angeles are forecast to hit 99 degrees Fahrenheit Friday.

Govreport will continue to monitor this developing situation.

PG&E’s forecasted outage map for the announced potential PSPS.