No major change in terms of the scope of the PSPS this weekend. At this point, we anticipate this PSPS event is smaller in scale impacting very targeted, local communities. We will keep you posted if there is any changes in the scope.
Potential affected counties and customers:
o Butte: 431 customers, 32 Medical Baseline customers
o Colusa: 559 customers, 37 Medical Baseline customers
o Fresno: 92 customers, 4 Medical Baseline customers
o Glenn: 365 customers, 22 Medical Baseline customers
o Kern: 595 customers, 36 Medical Baseline customers
o Lake: 86 customers, 3 Medical Baseline customers
o Napa: 85 customers, 6 Medical Baseline customers
o San Benito: 2 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
o Shasta: 268 customers, 22 Medical Baseline customers
o Sonoma: 22 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
o Stanislaus: 29 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
o Tehama: 3,159 customers, 297 Medical Baseline customers
o Yolo: 99 customers, 2 Medical Baseline customers
o Other: 5 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
Potential affected tribal areas:
o Grindstone Rancheria (Glenn County): 49 customers
o Cortina Rancheria (Colusa County): 8 customers
Customers can look up their address at www.pge.com/pspsupdates to see if PG&E is monitoring their location for the potential safety shutoff.
In addition, below are some useful information to include if your media market covers the above impacted communities:
How Customers Can Prepare
• Use a cell phone or hard-wired phone. Cordless phones do not work without electricity.
• Use battery-operated flashlights, not candles, which may pose a fire hazard.
• Unplug or turn off all electric and heat-producing appliances (e.g., air conditioners, washers and dryers, ovens, stoves, irons) to avoid overloading circuits. Overloaded circuits can be a fire hazard once power is restored.
• Unplug televisions and computers that were in use when the power went out.
• Leave a single lamp on to alert you when power returns.
• Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed, and place extra containers of ice inside to preserve food. A full freezer will remain colder longer.
• Notify your alarm company if you have an alarm system. Equipment can be affected by outages.
• Turn your appliances back on one at a time when conditions return to normal.
• Reset clocks, thermostats and other programmed equipment after power is restored.
Generator Safety
Backup power can be a vital part of any emergency preparedness plan in the event of a power outage. PG&E’s residential and business customers can review key considerations, safety tips, financing and retailer information by visiting pge.com/backuppower.
Why PG&E Calls a PSPS
PG&E initiates a PSPS when the weather forecast calls for such severe weather that people’s safety, lives, homes and businesses may be in danger of wildfires.
As each weather situation is unique, PG&E carefully reviews a combination of factors when deciding if power must be turned off. These factors include:
• Low humidity levels, generally 30% and below
• A forecast of high winds, particularly sustained winds above 20 miles per hour and wind gusts above 30-40 miles per hour
• Condition of dry material on the ground and low moisture content of vegetation
• A Red Flag Warning declared by the National Weather Service
• Real-time ground observations from our Wildfire Safety Operations Center and from our crews working across the service territory
This set of criteria is a first step that may lead to further analysis from PG&E’s meteorology team to determine if a PSPS is necessary.
Where to Learn More
• PG&E’s emergency website (pge.com/pspsupdates) is available in 16 languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Russian, Vietnamese, Korean, Farsi, Arabic, Hmong, Khmer, Punjabi, Japanese, Thai, Portuguese and Hindi. Customers will have the opportunity to choose their language of preference for viewing the information when visiting the website.
• Customers are encouraged to update their contact information and indicate their preferred language for notifications by visiting pge.com/mywildfirealerts or by calling 1-800-743-5000, where in-language support is available.
• Tenants and non-account holders can sign up to receive PSPS Address Alerts for any area where you do not have a PG&E account by visiting www.pge.com/addressalerts
• At PG&E’s Safety Action Center (safetyactioncenter.pge.com) customers can prepare for emergencies. By using the “Make Your Own Emergency Plan” tool and answering a few short questions, visitors to the website can compile and organize the important information needed for a personalized family emergency plan. This includes phone numbers, escape routes and a family meeting location if an evacuation is necessary.