PG&E Again Reduces Scope of Power Shutoffs, Begins Restoration Process in Some Areas

Updated 7:35 p.m. Wednesday

PG&E announced early Wednesday afternoon it had reduced the scope of its preemptive power shutoffs in Northern California, saying about 83,000 customers previously expected to lose power are no longer part of the planned blackout. Those customers are located in El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sierra and Yuba counties, as well as western Sonoma County.

The utility said it shut off power to about 48,000 customers, or at least 112,000 people, across 10 counties in parts of the North Bay and Sierra foothills Wednesday morning in an effort to keep its equipment from sparking wildfires amid gusty wind conditions and heightened fire danger.

The phased blackouts began about 7 a.m. Wednesday in Napa, Solano and portions of Sonoma counties. Outside the Bay Area, the morning shutoffs were also phased in for portions of Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Mendocino, Shasta, Tehama and Yolo counties.

Additional planned blackouts later in the day affected roughly 14,000 customers, or at least 32,000 people, in Butte, Plumas and Tehama counties and additional parts of Yuba County.

PG&E began the power restoration process in Shasta, Tehama and Glenn counties following a weather "all clear" Wednesday evening. The utility estimates it will restore power to 7,000 to 15,000 customers in those areas overnight.

An "all clear" is expected for all remaining counties at 2 a.m. Thursday, though the utility won't be able to utilize its full restoration resources until daylight.

Winds are expected to taper off Wednesday overnight in the Sacramento Valley, but will remain breezy to gusty in some areas of the North Bay and the Northern Sierra.

Sustained winds of more than 45 mph with gusts up to 73 mph were observed at a PG&E weather station on Mount St. Helena at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

PG&E reduced the area — and the number of customers — affected by threatened blackouts Wednesday significantly from earlier estimates due to improving weather conditions.

On Monday, the utility said more than 303,000 customers might lose power.

Five Bay Area counties were removed from the potential shutoff list — Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo and Santa Clara.

PG&E said in a media briefing Tuesday it hopes to dramatically reduce the frequency, scale and scope of the power shutoffs.

“It’s our commitment, and we’re making that commitment very publicly, that next year we will not be in this situation. That we’ll be able to protect the public in ways that aren't as terribly disruptive as they are today," said Andy Vesey, CEO of PG&E Co., the utility division of PG&E Corp.

The company's equipment has been found responsible for starting several catastrophic fires, including last year's Camp Fire, which killed 85 and destroyed almost 14,000 homes in the Butte County city of Paradise and surrounding communities. The blaze was the deadliest and most destructive fire in state history.

Here are the number of customers, medical baseline customers, communities affected and anticipated power restoration date from PG&E, updated Wednesday at 7:30 a.m.