PG&E expands possible California PSPS to 88,000 customers across 29 counties

By Cecilio Padilla

PG&E has again expanded a potential Public Safety Power Shutoff, now warning about 88,000 customers across 29 California counties that they could lose power starting Wednesday evening.

The scope has nearly tripled since Monday, when about 30,000 customers were initially being monitored. PG&E increased that number to 70,000 Tuesday before expanding it again Wednesday as the fire weather forecast changed.

PG&E said about 25,000 additional customers were added Wednesday, while roughly 7,300 were removed. Much of the expansion is in Amador, Tuolumne and Madera counties.

Potential shutoffs could begin Wednesday evening and continue through Saturday afternoon as dry offshore winds and extremely dry vegetation increase wildfire risk.

In Northern California, about 10,800 Calaveras County customers are now potentially affected, along with nearly 8,800 in El Dorado County, 7,200 in Tuolumne County, 5,300 in Placer County and 4,600 in Amador County.

In the Bay Area, 4,700 Alameda County customers were warned about possible outages, along with about 2,000 in Sonoma County and another 1,600 in Contra Costa County.

About 5,500 Medical Baseline customers and six tribal governments are also included in the current scope.

The latest warning comes just days after a separate PSPS affected about 10,400 customers in Colusa, Glenn, Shasta, Tehama and Yolo counties.

PG&E plans to open more than 40 Community Resource Centers across 23 counties if shutoffs occur. Customers who need additional assistance can also call 211.

The scope could continue to change as weather conditions develop. Customers can check whether their address is affected through PG&E’s PSPS website.