PG&E warns Bay Area customers of possible heat-related power outages amid triple digit conditions
DUBLIN, Calif. (KGO) -- Extreme heat, dry conditions and holiday fireworks have fire officials bracing for the worst this week, with just three days to go until the 4th of July.
"When you introduce fireworks to this dry vegetation, it can go up in a matter of minutes and probably be destroyed in a matter of seconds," Randall West, Division Chief of the Alameda County Fire Department said.
West says with the use of fireworks and temperatures expected to be more than 100 degrees for multiple days, he says the department is gearing up for a busy week.
"We have upstaffed our resources with an additional five engines, one battalion chief, one dozer, one water tender, our crews' eight fuse mitigation team and also our reserves," he said.
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PG&E warns these conditions could prompt public safety power shutoffs (PSPS), which are planned outages that help prevent wildfires.
Those are expected to impact around 12,000 customers, primarily in the Sacramento region, on Tuesday.
Though it may include some customers in rural Napa County.
They say the shutoffs are a last resort.
"When we have high heat, low humidity, high winds, and conditions on the ground are dry, they can be ripe for a wildfire," Megan McFarland, a PG&E spokesperson said. "And with these winds coming up in the Sacramento area, we started notifying customers yesterday giving them 48 hours notice."
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In the Bay Area, PG&E says customers are more likely to experience heat-related outages this week.
"When we have this 24-hour extreme heat, our equipment, specifically our transformers don't have an operate to cool down and that can create stress on our equipment which can lead to heat-related power outages," McFarland said.
And when it comes to flex alerts which are typically issued when hot weather drives up electricity demand, California ISO issued a statement Monday morning saying:
"Currently, the grid is stable and power supplies are adequate. We're continuing to monitor the heat and potential for impact on the grid."
Current and forecasted demand is available on the California ISO website here.
Meanwhile, PG&E is encouraging customers to make sure they have their devices charged, freeze large jugs of water and check in on friends and family to make sure they're doing ok in the heat.
