PG&E Prepares for Another Major Blackout as Strong Winds Return

(Bloomberg) -- PG&E Corp. may cut the lights to roughly 150,000 customers starting early Wednesday in the latest major blackout designed to keep its power lines from igniting wildfires.

The bankrupt utility is preparing to shut off service to homes and businesses in parts of 18 Northern Californian counties to keep live wires from getting knocked down and sparking fires amid high winds. The National Weather Service has posted “red flag” warnings for strong gusts across the region from 4 a.m. local time Wednesday to 7 a.m. Thursday.

The outage is the latest in a series of deliberate blackouts by PG&E that have provoked widespread outrage in California, triggering a state investigation and intensifying calls for a government takeover of the power giant. The company is taking extreme measures to prevent blazes from breaking out after its equipment ignited deadly fires in Northern California in 2017 and 2018. In January, it declared bankruptcy to deal with an estimated $30 billion in wildfire liabilities.

“We all know it’s not sustainable -- it’s not where we want to be,” Andy Vesey, chief executive officer of PG&E’s utility, said of the shutoffs during a press conference late Tuesday. “But at this point in time, it’s the situation that we are faced with.”

While affecting several counties across Northern California, Wednesday’s shutoffs will pale in comparison to the mass blackouts PG&E carried out last month, which plunged millions of people into darkness for days. The storm isn’t “as intense as the events we saw in October,” Vesey said.

Read More: PG&E CEO Sees Government Takeover as a Tall Order for California

California has had little rain for months, and more than 81% of the state is abnormally dry, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The parched plants and soils, along with high winds, make fall one of the worst times for fires in the state. “This lack of rain is keeping the threat of fire very real,” PG&E meteorologist Scott Strenfel said Tuesday.

PG&E has yet to make a final decision on Wednesday’s blackout and planned to notify customers if a shutoff becomes imminent later on Tuesday. The company was able to reduce the scope of the potential outages twice because of improving weather forecasts for areas including San Francisco’s densely populated East Bay.

“If conditions or forecasts change,” said Mark Quinlan, a senior director of emergency response at PG&E, “we will pivot.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Chediak in San Francisco at mchediak@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Doan at ldoan6@bloomberg.net, ;Tina Davis at tinadavis@bloomberg.net, Aaron Clark

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