Some Lake County residents endure prolonged power outage due to high fire danger

ByWayne Freedman KGO logo

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Some Lake County residents endure prolonged power outage due to high fire danger

Pockets of communities in the North Bay were still waiting for their power to come back on Tuesday after PG&E cut the juice Sunday evening due to high fire danger.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. (KGO) -- Pockets of communities in the North Bay were still waiting for their power to come back on Tuesday after PG&E cut the juice Sunday evening due to high fire danger.

"It's been challenging. Really challenging," said Madelyn Martinelli, a long-time resident small business owner who has survived too many fires in this region. She supports PG&E's decision to cut power on Sunday night.

"I was really relieved when they turned the power off. Grateful, but we had a lot of losses."

That would be as positive a review as of PG&E as ABC7 found in Lake County Tuesday. After hearing criticism for its lines starting fires, now the utility has more complaints about intentionally cutting power to prevent them, and the delay getting power back to customers.

"I think it is a passive aggressive move," said Bill Chapman, who manages a restaurant in Kelseyville. "They're giving it back to us since they were blamed for the fires starting before."

Down the street, Armand Pauley and his wife own a computer store. They don't agree with the shutdown, either. "Well I don't think it was necessary," said Armand. "I am not happy. No one I talked to is happy."

PG&E says it expected such feedback, despite months of advance warnings.

"We understand how inconvenient and frustrating it is," said spokeswoman Deanna Contreras. "Just because turning the power off takes a few seconds, turning the power on is not that easy. We have to make sure it is safe to turn the power on."

Lake County administrators are upset, as well. The Board of Supervisors invited PG&E representatives to their meeting Tuesday, and told them to take back a message to their bosses.

"The way PG&E rolled this out is not acceptable," said Supervisor Rod Brown. "We need them to know that we are not happy."

To find out if you are in an affected area click here.

The following is a full list of counties and cities that could experience some outages, according to PG&E:

Lake County (Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, Clearlake Park, Cobb, Finley, Hidden Valley Lake, Kelseyville, Lakeport, Lower Lake, Middletown)

Napa County (Angwin, Calistoga, Deer Park, Lake Berryessa, Napa, Pope Valley, Saint Helena)

Sonoma County (Cloverdale, Geyserville, Healdsburg, Santa Rosa)

Yuba County (Brownsville, Camptonville, Challenge, Dobbins, Marysville, Oregon House, Strawberry Valley)

Butte County (Berry Creek, Brush Creek, Clipper Mills, Feather Falls, Forbestown, Oroville)

Sierra County (Alleghany, Downieville, Goodyears Bar, Pike City, Sierra City)

Placer County (Alta, Applegate, Auburn, Baxter, Colfax, Dutch Flat, Emigrant Gap, Foresthill, Gold Run, Loomis, Meadow Vista, Weimar)

Nevada County (Chicago Park, Grass Valley, Nevada City, North San Juan, Penn Valley, Rough and Ready, Soda Springs, Washington)

El Dorado County (Aukum, Camino, Coloma, Cool, Diamond Springs, El Dorado, Fair Play, Garden Valley, Georgetown, Greenwood, Grizzly Flats, Kelsey, Kyburz, Mount Aukum, Omo Ranch, Pacific House, Placerville, Pollock Pines, Shingle Springs, Silver Fork, Somerset, Strawberry, Twin Bridges)

Amador County (Fiddletown, Jackson, Pine Grove, Pioneer, Plymouth, Sutter Creek, Volcano)

Plumas County (La Porte)

Calaveras (Glencoe, Mokelumne Hill, Mountain Ranch, Rail Road Flat, West Point, Wilseyville)

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