PG&E to move forward with Monday power shut-off
- Elizabeth Larson
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Due to an incoming windstorm across a large portion of its service area, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. will move forward early Monday with shutting off power to about 25,000 customers in 23 counties.
PG&E said it expects to begin its public safety power shut-off, or PSPS, across parts of California as early as 4 a.m. Monday.
In Lake County, 4,008 PG&E customers — 304 of them in the Medical Baseline program — are set to be included, most of them in the south county or north of Clearlake Oaks.
The power is expected to go off in those areas in Lake County between 6 and 8 a.m. Monday, PG&E said.
Customers can look up their address at www.pge.com/pspsupdates to see if they are being included in the shut-off.
PG&E said it’s calling this PSPS due to a dry, offshore wind storm expected to start overnight and bring wind gusts of up to 50 miles per hour by Monday morning, combined with extremely dry conditions.
Beginning on Monday morning, PG&E will open 24 community resource centers in 14 counties to offer charging of medical equipment and electronic devices, up-to-date information about the PSPS, and water, snacks and other essential items.
The centers will open at 8 a.m. and close at 10 p.m. for the remainder of the shut-off.
In Lake County, community resource centers are planned for the following locations:
— Live Oaks Senior Center, 12502 Foothill Blvd., Clearlake Oaks;
— Little Red Schoolhouse, 15780 Bottle Rock Road, Cobb;
— Hidden Valley Lake Association mailboxes, 18090 Hidden Valley Road, Hidden Valley Lake; and
— Twin Pine Casino and Hotel, 22223 Highway 29, Middletown.
The company anticipates weather “all clears” will occur as early as Monday evening with restoration expected to begin Tuesday afternoon, with times varying based on individual locations.
After the all clear is called but before restoring power, PG&E said its electric crews will begin patrolling in the air, in vehicles and on foot to visually check de-energized lines for hazards or damage to make sure it is safe to restore power. Inspections must occur during daylight hours. Once hazards are found and repaired, power can be turned back on to customers.
PG&E said it will notify customers when the weather system has passed and will provide continuous updates on when to expect the power to turn back on.
In addition to Lake, the shut-off is expected to affect customers in these counties:
Alameda: 134 customers, 10 Medical Baseline customers
Butte: 1,342 customers, 98 Medical Baseline customers
Colusa: 566 customers, 39 Medical Baseline customers
Contra Costa: 597 customers, 40 Medical Baseline customers
Fresno: 189 customers, 6 Medical Baseline customers
Glenn: 376 customers, 22 Medical Baseline customers
Kern: 633 customers, 34 Medical Baseline customers
Monterey: 854 customers, 27 Medical Baseline customers
Napa: 2,441 customers, 113 Medical Baseline customers
Plumas: 309 customers, 4 Medical Baseline customers
San Benito: 84 customers, 2 Medical Baseline customers
San Luis Obispo: 223 customers, 4 Medical Baseline customers
Santa Barbara: 27 customers, 2 Medical Baseline customer
Shasta: 2,336 customers, 172 Medical Baseline customers
Solano: 4,698 customers, 433 Medical Baseline customers
Sonoma: 87 customers, 1 Medical Baseline customer
Stanislaus: 30 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
Tehama: 5,342 customers, 498 Medical Baseline customers
Yolo: 515 customers, 16 Medical Baseline customers
The list above only includes counties with 25 or more customers impacted. There are three other counties with fewer than 25 customers impacted.
The following Tribal Communities are also expected to be impacted.
Cortina Rancheria: 8 customers, 1 Medical Baseline customer
Grindstone Rancheria: 50 customers, 4 Medical Baseline customers
Middletown Rancheria: 34 customers, 1 Medical Baseline customer
Mooretown Rancheria: 1 customer, 0 Medical Baseline customer
Pit River Tribes: 8 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.