PG&E Meteorology is monitoring strong winds and dry vegetation conditions late Tuesday through Thursday. PG&E has notified customers and mitigated impacts on polling locations

OAKLAND, Calif. — Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) meteorologists and operations professionals continue to monitor a potential wind event forecasted to enter parts of its service area late today (Tuesday, Nov. 5) through Thursday (Nov. 7) morning.

Although recent precipitation has lowered fire potential, fuel conditions have worsened over the last few days under dry and strong winds, leading to elevated fire weather concerns when winds begin strengthen this evening.

Based on these conditions, approximately 22,000 customers are in scope for a potential Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS). This is a roughly 7,000 customer increase from earlier estimates due to evolving weather conditions.

PG&E has sent advanced notifications to customers—via text, email, and automated phone call—in targeted areas where power may need to be proactively shut off for safety to reduce wildfire risk. In-scope customers are primarily located in western Sacramento Valley, North Bay and elevated terrain in the East Bay. The duration and extent of power outages will depend on the weather in each area, and not all customers will be affected for the entire period.

Ensuring No Election Day Impact

PG&E has been working with state and local election officials for more than a month to prepare for Election Day.

There are 7,000 Election Day polling locations in PG&E’s service area and 48 tabulation centers. We’ve identified five polling locations in three counties within the PSPS scope. PG&E is staging temporary generation to ensure votes can be cast.

No tabulation centers are currently in the scope of the PSPS. 

“We know losing power is disruptive any day of the year, especially on such an important day as today. We’ve been preparing for Election Day for over a month. We’re taking extraordinary measures to prevent outages at voting and tabulation centers, and pre-staging resources to quickly restore any service outages. Free and fair elections are a hallmark of our democracy, and we’re ready and proud to do our part to ensure that happens,” said Mark Quinlan, PG&E Senior Vice President, Wildfire, Emergency and Operations.

Potentially Affected Customers, Counties 

Customers can look up their address online to see if their location is being monitored for the potential PSPS at www.pge.com/pspsupdates. 

The potential PSPS event could affect approximately 22,000 customers in portions of these counties:   

• Alameda County: 2441 customers, 112 Medical Baseline customers
• Butte County: 443 customers, 38 Medical Baseline customers
• Colusa County: 607 customers, 29 Medical Baseline customers
• Contra Costa County: 1,240 customers, 65 Medical Baseline customers
• Glenn County: 507 customers, 21 Medical Baseline customers
• Kern County: 586 customers, 28 Medical Baseline customers
• Lake County: 1,168 customers, 84 Medical Baseline customers
• Mendocino County: 13 customers, 4 Medical Baseline customers
• Napa County: 4,638 customers, 205 Medical Baseline customers
• Plumas County: 1 customer, 0 Medical Baseline customers
• Santa Clara County: 1,593 customers, 89 Medical Baseline customers
• Santa Cruz County: 325 customers,16 Medical Baseline customers
• Solano County: 4,933 customers, 430 Medical Baseline customers
• Sonoma County: 1,902 customers, 60 Medical Baseline customers
• Stanislaus County: 28 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
• Tehama County: 1,073 customers, 101 Medical Baseline customers
• Yolo County: 434 customers, 21 Medical Baseline customers

When possible, PG&E representatives will make individual, in-person visits to customers enrolled in the company’s Medical Baseline Program. These are customers who do not verify they’ve received important safety communications. The primary focus will be on customers who rely on electricity for critical life-sustaining equipment. 

Customer Support

During PSPS events, PG&E opens Community Resource Centers so community members can access resources, including:

• A safe location to meet their basic power needs, such as charging medical equipment and electronic devices
• Up-to-date information about the PSPS
• Water, snacks, blankets, ADA-accessible restrooms and other essential items to reduce hardships to our customers.

Dozens of Community Resource Centers will be open in impacted counties to provide support to customers between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. A full list of available CRCs is on pge.com. 

Additionally, approximately 1,600 PG&E field personnel are focused on planning and pre-positioning resources for the anticipated event. Nearly 1,500 more are positioned in emergency operations centers around the service area to plan and respond to potential outages. 

How Customers Can Prepare

• Use a cell phone or hard-wired phone. Cordless phones do not work without electricity.
• Use battery-operated flashlights, not candles, which may pose a fire hazard.
• Unplug or turn off all electric and heat-producing appliances (e.g., air conditioners, washers and dryers, ovens, stoves, irons) to avoid overloading circuits. Overloaded circuits can be a fire hazard once power is restored.
• Unplug televisions and computers that were in use when the power went out.
• Leave a single lamp on to alert you when power returns.
• Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed, and place extra containers of ice inside to preserve food. A full freezer will remain colder longer.
• Notify your alarm company if you have an alarm system. Equipment can be affected by outages.
• Turn your appliances back on one at a time when conditions return to normal.
• Reset clocks, thermostats and other programmed equipment after power is restored.

Generator Safety

Backup power can be a vital part of any emergency preparedness plan in the event of a power outage. PG&E’s residential and business customers can review key considerations, safety tips, financing and retailer information by visiting pge.com/backuppower.

Why PG&E Calls a PSPS Event 

PG&E initiates PSPS when the fire-weather forecast is severe enough that people’s safety, lives, homes and businesses may be in danger of wildfires. Our overarching goal is to stop catastrophic wildfires by proactively turning off power in targeted areas when extreme weather threatens our electric grid. We recognize that PSPS outages create hardships for our customers and communities. Our sole focus is to keep our customers safe. 

As each weather situation is unique, we carefully review a combination of factors when deciding if power must be turned off. These factors include but are not limited to:  

• Low humidity levels, generally 30% and below. 
• A forecast of high winds particularly sustained winds above 19 mph and wind gusts above 30-40 mph. 
• Condition of dry material on the ground and low moisture content of vegetation. 

Our decision-making process also accounts for the presence of trees tall enough to strike powerlines. This set of criteria is a first step which may lead to further analysis by our meteorology team to determine if a PSPS event is necessary. 

Where to Learn More 

• PG&E’s emergency website (www.pge.com/pspsupdates) is now available in 16 languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Russian, Vietnamese, Korean, Farsi, Arabic, Hmong, Khmer, Punjabi, Japanese, Thai, Portuguese and Hindi. Customers have the opportunity to choose their language of preference for viewing the information when visiting the website. 
• Customers are encouraged to update their contact information and indicate their preferred language for notifications by visiting www.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 ZIP Code Alerts for any area they do not have a PG&E account by visiting www.pge.com/pspsupdates. 
• At PG&E’s Safety Action Center (www.safetyactioncenter.pge.com) customers can prepare for emergencies. By using the “Make Your Own Emergency Plan” tool and answering a few short questions, visitors to the website can compile and organize the important information needed for a personalized family emergency plan. This includes phone numbers, escape routes and a family meeting location if an evacuation is necessary.