December 6, 2020 - SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Due to substantial changes overnight in terms of the severity and location of the strongest winds along with improved humidity, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is significantly reducing the scope of its Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) currently slated to begin early Monday morning.

Two days ago, on Friday afternoon, about 132,000 PG&E customers in 15 counties and five tribal communities had been notified of a potential PSPS. Yesterday, that number changed to 92,000 customers. Today, the potential scope of the PSPS has been further reduced to 8,500 customers in five counties: Fresno, Madera (new), Mariposa (new), Tulare and Tuolumne.

High fire-risk conditions are expected to arrive later this evening with high winds forecast to continue early Monday morning, peaking in strength during the day Monday, and possibly lingering in some regions through early Tuesday.

Once the strong winds subside, PG&E crews will patrol the de-energized lines to ensure they were not damaged during the severe weather. PG&E will safely restore power as quickly as possible, with the goal of restoring most customers within 12 daylight hours, pending weather conditions. At this time, it’s anticipated the electric service will be restored to most customers affected by the PSPS by the end of the day on Tuesday.

This PSPS is not expected to affect any Bay Area counties. Approximately 2,500 customers in Napa, Lake and Sonoma counties have been removed from the scope of the event.

Potential Public Safety Power Shutoff: What Customers Should Know

Customer notifications—via text, email and automated phone call—began on Friday, approximately two days prior to the potential shutoff. Additional customer notifications went out on Saturday and today. Customers enrolled in the company’s Medical Baseline program who have not verified that they have received these important safety communications will be individually visited by a PG&E employee with a knock on their door when possible. A primary focus will be given to customers who rely on electricity for critical life-sustaining equipment.

Although PSPS is an important wildfire safety tool, we know that losing power is disruptive, especially for those with medical needs, customers working from home and students engaging in distance learning in response to COVID-19. The new stay-at-home order, issued on Friday, exempts essential workers in critical infrastructure sectors, including energy; PG&E employees are allowed to continue providing services.

Potentially Affected Customers

Here is a list of customers by county who could potentially be affected by this PSPS event.

• Fresno County: 359 customers, 12 Medical Baseline customers
• Madera County: 337 customers, 16 Medical Baseline customers
• Mariposa County: 1,234 customers, 18 Medical Baseline customers
• Tuolumne County: 6,293 customers, 297 Medical Baseline customers
• Tulare County: 225 customers, 3 Medical Baseline customers
• Total: 8,448 customers, 346 Medical Baseline Customers

Counties No Longer in Scope

• Alpine County: 574 customers, 7 Medical Baseline customers
• Amador County: 4,244 customers, 318 Medical Baseline customers
• Butte County: 8,713 customers, 801 Medical Baseline customers
• Calaveras County: 10,867 customers, 450 Medical Baseline customers
• El Dorado County: 28,358 customers, 1,926 Medical Baseline customers
• Kern County: 5 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
• Lake County: 24 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
• Napa County: 2,378 customers, 104 Medical Baseline customers
• Nevada County: 22,931 customers, 1,313 Medical Baseline customers
• Placer County: 6,401 customers, 420 Medical Baseline customers
• Plumas County: 344 customers, 20 Medical Baseline customers
• Sonoma County: 66 customers, 1 Medical Baseline
• Yuba County: 1,507 customers, 125 Medical Baseline customers

Customers can look up their address online to find out if their location is being monitored for the potential safety shutoff, and find the full list of affected counties, cities and communities, at www.pge.com/pspsupdates.

Outage and Backup Power Safety

Although backup power can be helpful during an outage, it also can pose safety hazards when not used correctly. Improper use can risk damage to your property, or endanger the lives of you, your family, or PG&E crews who may be working to restore power.

If you have a stand-by generator, make sure that it’s installed safely and inform PG&E to avoid risking damage to your property and endangering PG&E workers. Information on the safe installation of generators can be found on our website at www.pge.com/generator.   

Community Resource Centers Reflect COVID-19 Safety Protocols

During PSPS events, PG&E opens temporary Community Resource Centers (CRCs) to support our customers. These CRCs are open to customers when power is out at their homes and provide ADA-accessible restrooms and hand-washing stations, medical-equipment charging, Wi-Fi, bottled water and non-perishable snacks. PG&E will open CRCs on Monday morning started at 8 a.m. Visit this list of CRCs to see what’s available in your community.

Here’s Where to Go to Learn More

• PG&E’s emergency website (pge.com/pspsupdates) is now available in 16 languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Russian, Vietnamese, Korean, Farsi, Arabic, Hmong, Khmer, Punjabi, Japanese, Hindi, Portuguese and Thai. Customers can choose their language preference for viewing the information when visiting the website.
• Customers are strongly encouraged to update their contact information and indicate their preferred language for notifications by visiting pge.com/mywildfirealerts or by calling 1-800-743-5000, where in-language support is available.

Tenants and non-account holders can sign up to receive PSPS Alerts for any address where they do not have a PG&E account by visiting www.pge.com/pspsalerts.

• PG&E has launched a tool at its online Safety Action Center (safetyactioncenter.pge.com) to help customers prepare for emergencies. By using the "Make Your Own Emergency Plan" tool and answering a few short questions, customers can compile and organize the important information needed for a personalized family emergency plan.

About PG&E

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric energy companies in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with more than 23,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation's cleanest energy to 16 million people in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit pge.com and pge.com/news.
Source: PG&E