![\"\"](\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/PGE-PSPS-1.png\")
<\/p>\nSan Francisco, CA…Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E) Emergency Operations Center continues to monitor a strong offshore wind event expected to begin early Wednesday morning (Nov. 20) and last through Thursday morning. To reduce the risk of wildfire in these conditions, PG&E may turn off power to approximately 250,000 customers in portions of 19 counties in the Sierra Foothills, North Valley and North Bay. Other parts of the Bay Area are not expected to be included in a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The weather forecasts continue to be dynamic, so the extent of wind and PSPS impacts may change. No decision has been made about calling a PSPS at this time.<\/p>\n
As of tonight, portions of the following counties could be affected if PG&E moves forward with a PSPS: Butte, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Solano, Sonoma, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Yolo and Yuba.<\/p>\n
PG&E plans to notify potentially affected customers beginning Monday morning (Nov. 18)\u2014about 48 hours before a potential shutoff\u2014by phone, text and email. PG&E is working closely with state, county, local and tribal partners to prepare for the potential PSPS.<\/p>\n
Weather Information<\/p>\n
PG&E meteorologists currently anticipate a wide area of high winds, including sustained winds of up to 25 mph, gusts in the 30-50 mph range and peak gusts above 55 mph.
\nFire Weather Watches have been issued in PG&E’s service area.
\nVegetation is extremely dry:
\nAverage precipitation in the Northern Sierra by this point in November is typically 5 inches; this year, that region has received 0.3 inches of precipitation.
\nTemperatures in PG&E’s service territory are 5-15 degrees above average for this time of year.
\nThe recent series of extreme wind events have also contributed to dry conditions, as wind has a drying effect on vegetation.<\/p>\n
Customer Notifications<\/p>\n
When possible, the company notifies potentially impacted customers at 48 hours, 24 hours and again just prior to a power shutoff\u2014for those customers who have provided their contact information to PG&E.
\nCustomers enrolled in the company’s Medical Baseline program who do not verify 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 those customers who rely on electricity for critical life-sustaining equipment.<\/p>\n
How to Stay Informed<\/p>\n
Starting Monday, customers can look up whether their address could be affected at pge.com\/pspsupdates.
\nFor the latest weather information, including the PSPS 7-Day forecast, visit pge.com\/weather.
\nFor general information about how a Public Safety Power Shutoff works, visit pge.com\/psps.
\nPG&E will provide frequent updates on its Twitter and Facebook accounts, as well as through Nextdoor.
\nPG&E will provide frequent updates to news media.<\/p>\n
How to Prepare for a PSPS<\/p>\n
As part of PSPS preparedness efforts, PG&E is asking customers to:<\/p>\n
Plan for medical needs like medications that require refrigeration or devices that need power.
\nIdentify backup charging methods for phones and keep hard copies of emergency numbers.
\nBuild or restock your emergency kit with flashlights, fresh batteries, first aid supplies and cash.
\nKeep in mind family members who are elderly, younger children and pets.
\nLearn more about wildfire risk and what to do before, during and after an emergency to keep your family safe at PG&E’s Safety Action Center.<\/p>\n
PSPS Criteria<\/p>\n
No single factor drives a Public Safety Power Shutoff, as each situation is unique. PG&E carefully reviews a combination of many criteria when determining if power should be turned off for safety. These factors generally include, but are not limited to:<\/p>\n
A Red Flag Warning declared by the National Weather Service
\nLow humidity levels, generally 20 percent and below
\nForecasted sustained winds generally above 25 mph and wind gusts in excess of approximately 45 mph, depending on location and site-specific conditions such as temperature, terrain and local climate
\nCondition of dry fuel on the ground and live vegetation (moisture content)
\nOn-the-ground, real-time observations from PG&E’s Wildfire Safety Operations Center and observations from PG&E field crews<\/p>\n
About PG&E<\/p>\n
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 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation’s cleanest energy to 16 million people in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com and www.pge.com\/news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
San Francisco, CA…Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E) Emergency Operations Center continues to monitor a strong offshore wind event expected to begin early Wednesday morning (Nov. 20) and last through Thursday morning. To reduce the risk of wildfire in these conditions, PG&E may turn off power to approximately 250,000 customers in portions of 19 counties […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":81761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/PGE-PSPS-1.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=90903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/81761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=90903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=90903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=90903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}