Following 2017’s Tubbs fire, PG&E is now considering shutting off power to over 120 thousand customers in Northern California. Napa and Sonoma county are two of the largest areas that are potentially affected by this shutdown. Authorities at PG&E claim that “hot, dry, and windy” weather conditions are currently being monitored, and that blackouts starting on Monday this week are possible. The current conditions of this week’s weather are enough for a small electrical fire to create a disaster.
The monitoring continued throughout this past weekend, with PG&E notifying the public on the 21st. The first official statement from spokesperson Brandi Merlo via Twitter claimed that risks in parts of “Butte, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sutter, and Yuba” counties were possible. On Sunday evening, this was extended further to include Napa and Sonoma Counties. On Monday night, elevated monitoring by the National Weather Service will begin, as temperatures are expected to rise on Tuesday and Wednesday.
According to CBS SF, over 30,000 customers in these two counties alone would be affected by the shutdowns. This means that both homes and businesses could be forced to go without grid power. Many residents and business owners in local counties expressed their concerns about losing power. Businesses that depend on refrigeration and computer systems are most affected by blackouts, resulting in lost sales and potentially even lost product. Christina Pheffer, in an interview with KCRA, mentioned that “it would be a very big hardship” to have to operate her restaurant South Pine Cafe without refrigeration. Other local business owners mentioned full closure of their shops being necessary during the power-out, particularly those with credit card systems. Homeowners are also divided over the issue. Many support PG&E’s decision and are willing to live without power to avoid the risk. On the other hand, some see the shutdown as unnecessary.
According to The Press Democrat, PG&E has already issued one mandatory shutdown on June 8 of this year, with over 21,000 customers being affected. This week’s potential shutdown could prove to be a much larger scale operation, with more than 5 times the amount of customers being affected, and for 48 hours or more. Both the June 8 shutdown and this week’s situation are caused by the summer heat and lack of rain, which results in so-called “fire season” conditions. Although Napa and Sonoma county experienced light rain several days ago, the vegetation in the surrounding areas is still dry enough to be volatile.
Along with PG&E, local authorities are also making preparations for this week. Paul Lowenthal of the Santa Rosa Fire Department said in an interview with CBS that local crews are on high alert, ready to “respond with more crews than in the past”.
PG&E asks all residents to begin preparing for a 48 hour shutdown, and to be ready by Monday night. This includes ensuring that water and food are stocked, and it is suggested that portable lamps and lights are recharged before the shutdown occurs. Additionally, PG&E recommends you keep cash on you and a full tank of fuel in case an evacuation is necessary. PG&E also has a system known as the “Medical Baseline Program”designed to help those who have medical equipment and depend on main power. Members of this program will receive an additional early notification about the shutdown. It is also necessary that these customers ensure backup power is set up before the outages.
