Pacific Gas & Electric Co. put the Bay Area on watch for fire-prevention power shut-offs Thursday and Friday as utility meteorologists monitored strong winds predicted to sweep through the region.
Other parts of PG&E service territory could see power shut-offs during that time period as well, and in parts of northeastern California, outages could begin Wednesday.
Public safety power shut-offs have four levels. PG&E moved the Bay Area Monday morning from elevated, or a minor threat of outages, to watch, indicating the planned blackouts are likely.
Outages affect only parts of counties, because they target high-risk areas. It was unclear how many homes and businesses may be affected by the shut-offs. The utility said it would release more information closer to the event.
PG&E said the areas most likely to see outages include the Northern Sacramento Valley and adjacent elevated terrain; the Northern Sierra Nevada generally north of I-80; the mountains of the North Bay; and areas near Mount Diablo. Gusts on some peaks could exceed 60 mph, the utility said.
The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning which will last through Wednesday morning, but more problematic winds could return later in the week as well, as reflected in the PG&E forecast.
Daniel Swain, a UCLA climate scientist, said on Twitter that there could be three offshore events in California this week, affecting mostly the northern part of the state.
“Critically, vegetation is now yet again at or near record dryness levels,” Swain warned.
The Bay Area’s recent record-breaking heat and windy autumn weather has brought the repeated threat of new wildfires. Numerous homes and businesses lost power last week as conditioned ripened for wind-sparked blazes.
"We anticipate those conditions to return later this week,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a press conference Monday.
This fire season, more than 4.1 million acres have gone up in flames in California, with 12 fire complexes currently torching parts of the state, Newsom said. Thirty-one people have died and over 9,000 structures have been destroyed.
"For the next eight days around the northern part of the state, we expect temperatures ... (and) humidity levels that are concerning and winds whipping up,” Newsom said.
PG&E regularly cuts power to high-risk zones to prevent power lines from starting fires. The utility’s equipment has been blamed for a series of deadly fires, including the 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County, the state’s deadliest and most destructive fires to date. Investigators are still determining what role PG&E played in the recent Zogg Fire in Shasta County that killed four people.
The company first began its power shut-offs in 2018 and increased the frequency of the fire prevention measure last year. But the moves were criticized as too broad as large swaths of land with millions of people were left without power for days, and at times, up to a week. This year, PG&E said its goal is to have one-third fewer customers affected by the shut-offs. The utility has installed generators at some substations and devices “that allow the company to isolate more narrow portions of its grid.”
Chronicle staff writer Aidin Vaziri contributed to this report.
Nora Mishanec and Shwanika Narayan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: nora.mishanec@sfchronicle.com, shwanika.narayan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NMishanec, @shwanika
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PG&E raises likelihood for Bay Area power shut-offs this week - San Francisco Chronicle
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