Power expected by midnight to 70 percent of those in fire risk areas

By Bay City News Service

PG&E officials said more than 38,000 customers in the North Bay and Sierra Foothills had their power restored as of 9:30 p.m. Monday night. They said they expect to restore power for all customers by Tuesday, but did not have specific times. 

Earlier they said they expected to restore power by midnight on Tuesday to 70 percent of the customers in several counties after power was turned off Sunday night to reduce wildfire risks in conditions that are dry, windy and with low humidity.

At around 4:30 p.m. Lake County Sheriff said Middletown and Hidden Valley Lake had their power turned back on, followed by Kelseyville but portions of Clearlake are still without. 

Improved weather conditions this morning allowed PG&E crews to patrol and inspect power lines by helicopter, vehicle and on foot to identity any damage that occurred overnight, spokeswoman Melissa Subbotin said.

PG&E will provide customers detailed information about their expected time of restoration.

The Public Safety Power Shutoff was in effect for an estimated 60,000 customers in Sonoma, Lake, Napa, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado and Placer counties. PG&E notified 97,000 customers of the possibility that power would be turned off, but conditions did not require them all, Subbotin said.

Portions of the North Bay experienced wind speeds of over 60 mph and gusts of up to 70 mph, Subbotin said.

PG&E's 24/7 Wildlife Safety Operations Center and in-house meteorologists monitored the weather for several days before the decision to cut power was made. PG&E notified customers through automated phone calls, texts, social media and emails Saturday about the possible power shutoff.

The outage closed some school closures in Calistoga and other parts of the fire risk areas.

Cal Fire announced in June that PG&E's equipment led to many of the fires in Northern California a year ago.