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Nearly 7,000 Bay Area PG&E customers could see midweek power shutoff

By KTVU staff
Updated  October 19, 2020 7:05pm PDT
PG&E
KTVU FOX 2

Fire weather in North Bay

Steve Paulson says it will be fire weather in the North Bay. But patchy coastal fog elsewhere.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Pacific Gas and Electric is notifying as many as 50,000 customers in 19 counties and two tribal areas on Monday that they could see public safety power outages on Wednesday due to high winds and dry conditions. 

It's a familiar fire-season story as a red flag warning has been issued for parts of the North Bay beginning Monday night and lasting through Wednesday. 

Six Bay Area counties are affected by the potential outages including; Alameda, Contra Costa, Napa, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma. Nearly 7,000 Bay area customers could see their power shutoff. Alameda and Napa counties will take the brunt of the Bay Area outages.

PG&E plans to open community rescource centers to help customers in need who are without power. Based on weather conditions, the utility's goals is to restore power within 12 daylight hours if weather permits. Notifications of the outages began Monday afternoon via text, email and automated phone calls. 

  • Alameda County: 3,485 customers, 190 Medical Baseline customers
  • Contra Costa County: 536 customers, 42 Medical Baseline customers
  • Napa County: 2,032 customers, 82 Medical Baseline customers
  • Santa Clara County: 236 customers, 9 Medical Baseline customers
  • Solano County: 49 customers, 4 Medical Baseline customers
  • Sonoma County: 626 customers,18 Medical Baseline customers

Meanwhile, the red flag warning was initially a fire weather watch for the North Bay mountains before it was upgraded by the National Weather Service Monday afternoon.

The advisory is from 11 p.m. Monday through 8 a.m. Wednesday because of dry conditions and gusty, offshore winds.

The National Weather Service said that the weather, along with California's dry grass and vegetation, will result in an increased risk of new wildfires. 

Meteorologists said gusty offshore winds and very dry conditions are becoming increasingly likely through the next week or more and they warned that "heightened vigilance across fire-prone regions is encouraged."