PG&E may shut power off midweek due to wind event; portions of Lake County could be impacted
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Pacific Gas and Electric said it may shut off power to 264,000 customer accounts across Northern California early Wednesday due to an incoming wind event, with about one-third of Lake County’s customers expected to be impacted.
Late Monday morning, PG&E said it had sent advance notifications to customers in the potentially impacted areas across Lake and 21 other counties: Alameda, Amador, Butte, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Glenn, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Solano, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Yolo and Yuba.
In Lake County, an estimated 13,370 customer accounts – of which 2,010 are medical baseline accounts – are expected to be impacted in Clearlake, Cobb, Finley, Hidden Valley Lake, Kelseyville, Lakeport, Loch Lomond, Lower Lake and Middletown, PG&E reported.
During the October public safety power shutoffs, all of Lake County – with a reported total of 37,441 customer accounts – had been impacted, as Lake County News reported.
PG&E said Monday that this week’s potential public safety power shutoff is the result of high fire-risk conditions that are expected to begin early Wednesday morning and continue throughout Thursday.
The National Weather Service has issued a fire weather watch for portions of Northern California, including Lake County, that’s in effect from 4 a.m. Wednesday through 7 a.m. Thursday.
The Lake County forecast calls for wind gusts of close to 40 miles per hour, specifically in the south county, during the day on Wednesday.
PG&E said its meteorologists currently anticipate a wide area of high winds in the shutoff area, including sustained winds of up to 25 miles per hour, gusts ranging from 30 to 50 miles per hour, and peak gusts above 55 miles per hour.
The company said vegetation is extremely dry in its service area, noting that the average precipitation in the Northern Sierra by this point in November is typically 5 inches. This year, that region has received 0.3 inches of rain.
Temperatures in PG&E's service territory are 5 to 15 degrees above average for this time of year, the company said.
The recent series of extreme wind events have also contributed to dry conditions, as wind has a drying effect on vegetation, the company reported.
Once the high winds subside – which is currently expected to be mid-morning on Thursday – PG&E said it will inspect the de-energized lines to ensure they were not damaged during the wind event, and then restore power.
PG&E said it will restore power in stages as quickly as possible, with the goal of restoring most customers by the end of the day Thursday, based on the current weather conditions.
In Lake County, PG&E said it will once again open community resource centers with seating for up to 100 people. The centers will offer, bottled water, snacks, electronic-device charging and blankets, upon request.
The location of the centers in Lake County hadn’t been confirmed early Monday afternoon, PG&E spokeswoman Deanna Contreras said.
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