This browser does not support the Video element.
PG&E power shutoffs in the East Bay are underway
Team coverage of the PG&E emergency power shutoffs as the lights go out in parts of the East Bay.
OAKLAND, Calif. - PG&E said the delayed outages began in the East Bay, South Bay and Santa Cruz County just after 10:30 p.m. Wednesday night. The process is expected to continue through midnight.
Here are the latest numbers from PG&E, as of 1:45 p.m. Wednesday. These include PG&E customers currently impacted, or could be impacted. The total number is 215,925 PG&E customers.
Alameda County:
- 32,680 customers in Oakland, Castro Valley, Fremont, Union City, Berkeley, Hayward, San Leandro, Sunol, Pleasanton, and Livermore
- Medical Base: 872 customers
Contra Costa County
- 51,310 customers in San Ramon, Orinda, Lafayette, Moraga, Pinole, Richmond, Kensington, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Berkeley, Canyon, San Pablo, Pittsburg, Rodeo, Concord, Albany, Antioch, Martinez, and Rodeo
- Medical Base: 1,594 customers
Marin County
- 9,855 customers in Bolinas, Fairfax, Mill Valley, Muir Beach, Olema, Sausalito, and Stinson Beach
- Medical Base: 131 customers
Napa County
- 32,124 customers in Napa, Saint Helena, Calistoga, Angwin, Pope Valley, Rutherford, Oakville, Deer Park, Lake Berryessa, Yountville, and American Canyon
- Medical Base: 780 customers
San Mateo County
- 14,766 customers in Half Moon Bay, El Granada, Woodside, Moss Beach, Montara, Portola Valley, Pescadero, La Honda, Redwood City, San Gregorio, Loma Mar, San Mateo, Menlo Park, Emerald Hills, Pacifica, Princeton, Davenport, and Palo Alto
- Medical Base: 262 customers
Santa Clara County
- 38,250 customers in San Jose, Morgan Hill, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Redwood Estates, Milpitas, Sunnyvale, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Coyote, Gilroy, Mount Hamilton, Palo Alto, and Holy City
- Medical Base: 1,086 customers
Santa Cruz County
- 36,940 customers in Aptos, Boulder Creek, Watsonville, Scotts Valley, Soquel, Ben Lomond, Felton, Santa Cruz, Los Gatos, Mount Hermon, Brookdale, Davenport, Capitola, Freedom, La Selva Beach, Corralitos, Saratoga, and Bonny Doon
- Medical Base: 1,775 customers
Phase 1
Start Time: 12 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9
The utility turned off power to approximately 500,000 customers and just before noon it was complete. Amador, Butte, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Napa, Nevada, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Solano, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Yolo, Yuba, Placer
This browser does not support the Video element.
186,000 PG&E customers without power in Bay Area
Hundreds of thousands of PG&E customers are expected to lose power Wednesday during projected dry, hot and windy weather.
Phase 2
Start Time: Scheduled for Noon Wednesday, Oct. 9, but delayed until late afternoon/ early evening
An estimated 234,000 customers in the following counties will lose power: Alameda, Alpine, Calaveras, Contra Costa, Mariposa, Mendocino, San Joaquin, San Mateo and Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Stanislaus, and Toulomne.
This browser does not support the Video element.
Power safety shutoffs
More than 185000 customers are without power in the Bay Area Wednesday morning
Phase 3
Start Time: TBA
PG&E says a third phase for the southernmost portions of its service area, impacting approximately 42,000 customers. Specific locations impacted are Alameda County, Alpine County, Contra Costa County, Mariposa County, San Joaquin County, San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Santa Cruz County, Stanislaus County, and Toulumne County.
The decision to turn off power was based on forecasts of dry, hot and windy weather including potential fire risk. Based on the latest weather forecasts and models, PG&E anticipates that this weather event will last through midday Thursday, with peak winds forecasted from Wednesday morning through Thursday morning and reaching 60 to 70 mph at higher elevations.
PG&E says it can take days for restoration, so customers should plan to be without power for up to seven days.
The San Mateo County Office of Emergency Services advises approximately 15,000 PG&E customers will lose power between noon and 1 p.m., Wednesday. This includes the cities of Half Moon Bay and the towns of Portola Valley and Woodside. The unincorperated areas west of I-280 and to the Santa Cruz border includng Pescadero are also in the impacted zone. This Public Safety Power Shutoff is scheduled to last 24 hours.
At a news conference Wednesday evening PG&E said they have established a new website where customers can search and see maps of outages that may affect them. The utility said they would share more information about the site on their social media channels following the evening news conference.
The new site uses a third-party system. Officials said they are confident the new site is robust and can handle the volume of customers. However, the launch of the new site did not go smoothly. Many reported on social media that they could not access the site. KTVU attempted to access the site once PG&E shared the link on their social media, but received an error message. The site says they are "currently experiencing high volume and intermittent performance issues." When we last checked around 10 p.m., the site appeared to be functioning. The site includes information on outages in the community, but within the next 24 hours, PG&E will work on the capability to give estimates on the time of power restoration.
Officials from San Jose provide a 3:30 p.m. update, Wednesday (Video below):
PG&E holds 6 p.m. news conference in San Francisco (Video below):
This developing story will be updated as new information is released.