MAP: PG&E Public Safety Power Shutoffs impact thousands in 24 Calf. counties
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- PG&E has restored power to thousands of customers impacted by its latest round of Public Safety Power Shutoffs, but thousands more still remain in the dark.
About 10,000 customers had their power restored in Northern California last night, but more than 30,000 still remain without energy.
MORE: Find out if you'll be impacted by PSPS here
Officials say power should be fully restored by 10 p.m. Friday, but that depends ultimately depends on the weather; a Red Flag Warning has been extended until 6 p.m. and a Heat Advisory is in effect until 9 p.m.
PG&E said late Thursday that a total of 41,000 customers have lost power during this shutoff, substantially less than the 53,000 the utility estimated earlier this week.
Customers in Butte, Lake, Napa, Nevada, Plumas, Shasta, Solano, Sonoma, Tehama, Yolo and Yuba counties lost power late Wednesday night. Customers have also been impacted in Alameda, Amador, Calaveras, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Monterey, Nevada, Placer, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Sierra counties. About 700 customers in Humboldt and Trinity were also impacted.
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The utility says the highest probability areas for this PSPS are the Northern Sierra Nevada foothills; the mid and higher elevations in the Sierra generally north of Yosemite; the North Bay mountains near Mt. St. Helena; small pockets in the East Bay near Mt. Diablo; the Oakland Hills east of Piedmont; the elevated terrain east of Milpitas around the Calaveras Reservoir; and portions of the Santa Cruz and Big Sur mountains.
PG&E says the wind event, combined with dry conditions could cause a heightened fire risk, causing them to turn off the electricity in affected areas.
VIDEO: Thousands of North Bay residents without electricity due to PG&E power shutoff
In the North Bay, more than 9,000 customers in Napa County lost electricity, including the west side of Calistoga.
The shutoffs are creating a new round of anxiety for residents who just lived through wildfire, smoke and power outages.
Lauri Berean has what Napa needs in case the power goes out.
"I'm here to service the community," said Berean.
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She's assistant manager at Outdoor Supply Hardware in Napa. With a possible PG&E Public Safety Power Shutoff approaching, most of the portable generators have sold out.
"This could easily do a refrigerator, a couple of lights, your TV," said Berean.
John Louden was buying extra flashlight batteries and wasn't happy about it.
"There is a sense of disillusionment with PG&E, it's one crisis after another I don't like it," Louden said.
VIDEO: Santa Cruz Mountains residents all too familiar with wildfires, power outages
Considering the month of August brought damage and destruction to residents across the Santa Cruz Mountains have never before seen, many living in the area told ABC7 News they were prepared for a few days without power.
"I was evacuated for 17 days and didn't have power for a week and a half after that," a resident who identified himself only as George, said. "So, I have a generator. Worst case scenario, you just fire that up and run it for a night."
George lives just north of Boulder Creek. He said many of his neighbors already have generators. He added, he is worried for those who don't- people who are still struggling to navigate the aftermath of the CZU Lightning Complex fire.
"A lot of people up here are living on social security. They don't have a lot of money and then they've lost their house- it's been badly damaged and they just can't live in their home," George continued. "Or they're just living by the skin of their teeth."
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PG&E set up a Community Resource Center nearby, meant to provide anyone impacted with ADA compliant restrooms, hand-washing and charging stations, WiFi and more.
Power shutoffs impact thousands of PG&E customers in East Bay
This PSPS event has impacted over 6,000 customers in the East Bay- mostly in the cities of Walnut creek, Danville, Dublin and Oakland.
This is all happening in the middle of a pandemic. Many people working from and students doing distance learning. PG&E has opened 40 Community Resource Centers - where people go to if they do not have electricity. The centers will be open at 8 a.m. over the next two days.
In the Oakland hills, numerous regional parks were shut down as a Red Flag Warning means cutting off power to businesses that are barely hanging on with COVID-19 restrictions and to homes in the hills. PG&E will cut electricity to target zones.
Those zones include much of the Oakland Hills east of Highway 13 from Grizzly Peak to Milpitas and in the Mt. Diablo foothills, neighborhoods in Danville and streets in East Walnut Creek.
PG&E says they're aiming to make this PSPS event less painful.
"We're also trying to make them smaller events and shorter events so we're really targeting areas trying to make it more pockets in targeted zones rather than larger areas," Tamar Sarkissian, a PG&E spokesperson, said
PG&E will continue providing updates and more concrete details as we get closer to the wind event, as forecast models may change.
Here is a list of customers by county who have been impacted by the PSPS event.
Alameda County:5,326 customers, 210 Medical Baseline customers
Amador County:57 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
Butte County:11,341 customers, 981 Medical Baseline customers
Calaveras County: 262 customers, 17 Medical Baseline customers
Contra Costa County: 929 customers, 61 Medical Baseline customers
El Dorado County: 1,654 customers, 73 Medical Baseline customers
Humboldt County: 187 customers, 1 Medical Baseline customer
Lake County: 82 customers, 5 Medical Baseline customers
Monterey County: 636 customers, 23 Medical Baseline customers
Napa County: 9,221 customers, 314 Medical Baseline customers
Nevada County: 224 customers, 6 Medical Baseline customers
Placer County: 389 customers, 13 Medical Baseline customers
Plumas County: 1,855 customers, 103 Medical Baseline customers
San Mateo County: 1,687 customers, 56 Medical Baseline customers
Santa Clara County: 2,210 customers, 103 Medical Baseline customers
Santa Cruz County: 5,076 customers, 351 Medical Baseline customers
Shasta County: 4,697 customers, 397 Medical Baseline customers
Sierra County: 1,052 customers, 24 Medical Baseline customers
Solano County: 871 customers, 66 Medical Baseline customers
Sonoma County: 1,777 customers, 64 Medical Baseline customers
Tehama County: 1,228 customers, 57 Medical Baseline customers
Trinity County: 178 customers, 10 Medical Baseline customers
Yolo County: 10 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
Yuba County: 1,841 customers, 141 Medical Baseline customers
You can read the full advisory and check for the most current updates here.
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