North Bay copes with PG&E power shutdown

CALISTOGA, Calif. (KGO) -- Parts of Calistoga were in the dark this morning as part of PG&E's power shutoff, causing people to adjust their morning routines and costing businesses money.

Jacob Busieney of Santa Rosa was trying to get coffee from the convenience store on the corner of Highway 128 and Petrified Forest Road, but it was closed. The store did not have power.

"This one is a bit of a surprise. I wasn't expecting Calistoga to lose power and I am trying to go to work," he said. "I was just trying to get coffee!"

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The city's main street of Lincoln Avenue did not lose power and was busy helping people who did.

"We have an increase in business. There's been a number of people taking coffee home and people coming in who haven't got power where they are staying," said Clive Richardson, owner of Calistoga Roastery.

He was grateful to still have power. His business does not have a generator.

"No generator. Unfortunately we don't own the building so to put a generator in is a little bit costly," he said.

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Lyall Fahden at Hans Fahden winery did have a generator powering his tasting room today. He bought a used one on Craigs List. But it isn't strong enough to power his production room and he can't afford a larger one.

"People come to work and they can't work. They have to go home and (suffer a ) loss of wages," Fahden said.

PG&E crews roamed throughout the area and monitored the wind. Officials kept the power off all morning because of the threat of wildfires.

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"We are in the fire zone and PG&E is doing the right thing. But it is hard on business, there's no question," Fahden said.

His generator will ensure that his caves will still be lit, his event center still open. He has three weddings scheduled for this weekend. His tasting room is still open today.

"We have a lot of tours come through here. Can't disappoint the people of Pennsylvania!", he said with a smile.

The outage impacted 708 customers near Calistoga, Napa and the Northern end of Lake Berryessa. In Sonoma County, 711 customers near Santa Rosa along Porter Creek Road lost power.

Go here to see a map of the areas affected.