Arnold, CA…The latest as of last evening from PG&E…”We appreciate the patience of our customers out of power in the Sierra Foothills. Crews continue to make progress in difficult conditions. The electric grid is interconnected and restoration starts with main circuits, then neighborhood circuits and then individual homes.

As of 6 p.m. today (Friday, March 20), approximately 6,400 PG&E customers remain without power due to the storm. These customers are primarily in Nevada, Placer, El Dorado, Sierra and Calaveras counties. We know that some customers have been without power for some time. We understand the hardship of this situation and want those customers to know our crews are working safely and as quickly as possible to restore their power.

More than 145 PG&E crews are working to restore power in these regions, along with 20 snow cats and helicopters patrolling lines for any additional damage. Crews continue to work as conditions allow and areas become accessible. Low-elevation and often heavy snow results in many trees falling into PG&E’s electric equipment, causing significant damage and resulting in outages. Repairs and assessments continue, and restoration is expected for most customers by Sunday. These extended outages are due to the significant damage to equipment in some areas.

In one community in Calaveras County, the extent of damage is widespread and substantial. At this time, 32 crews are working to rebuild the electric grid in the Big Trees Village. More than 80 poles are being replaced with hundreds of crossarms, several spans of wire and transformers. More than 400 work locations were identified in the assessment phase. It’s likely that repairs needed to restore power to these customers will take until early next week.

In El Dorado County, 38 crews are working to make repairs at more than 400 locations as assessment continues in some areas as access has been impeded by snow and down trees. We are working to communicate with those customers regarding any updates to restoration. Crews will continue to work in all areas until customers have been fully restored.”

Outages by County/City (as of 6 p.m. March 20)