PG&E Warns of Power Cuts as California Faces Wildfire Risk
Affected areas could include Napa, Solano and Yolo counties.
(Bloomberg) -- Wildfire season has barely started, and PG&E Corp. is already warning it could cut service in Napa County and elsewhere in Northern California to prevent power lines from sparking a blaze.
PG&E may proactively shut off electricity in several counties this weekend after the National Weather Service said fire risk was high, the San Francisco-based utility said Friday. About 1,600 customers in Napa, Solano and Yolo counties will have power shut off early Saturday morning through at least Saturday afternoon, PG&E said in a separate statement. It’s coordinating with state and local agencies to prepare for any blackouts.
The warning underscores the measures PG&E may take to avoid a repeat of the past two years, when its equipment sparked large blazes including the Camp Fire, which killed 85 people and destroyed the town of Paradise. Damage claims resulting from those fires pushed PG&E into bankruptcy, facing an estimated $30 billion in damages.
The utility plans to cut power in some areas where its equipment has been found by state investigators to have started wildfires in 2017 and 2018. Thousands of customers in the Sierra Nevada foothills and Napa, Solano and Yolo counties could be effected.
Dry winds are forecast to sweep through the Sacramento Valley on Saturday, leaving about 700,000 people facing critical fire conditions, including the cities of Napa and Fairfield, according to the U.S. Storm Prediction Center. A wider area, stretching nearly to the coast north of San Francisco, has a lesser warning in effect through Sunday.
Last week, California regulators signed off on PG&E’s plan to reduce fire risk by cutting power to potentially millions of homes and businesses when winds are strong and could knock down power lines. Regulators said blackouts should be used as a last resort.
PG&E announced it was considering cutting power as a state commission is meeting Friday to make recommendations on how to address utility wildfire liabilities issues.
--With assistance from Brian K. Sullivan and Dan Murtaugh.
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, Joe Ryan, Pratish Narayanan
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