California Power Outage Rolls Into Second Day, Millions Without Electricity -- 2nd Update
October 10 2019 - 6:49PM
Dow Jones News
By Zusha Elinson
KENSINGTON, Calif. -- With no lights, orthodontist Claire
Ferrari put on a battery-operated headlamp so she could adjust a
young man's braces Thursday morning at her office near Berkeley
during the second day of mass blackouts in California. She had to
improvise with the dental chair too, laying the patient upside
down, because the chair couldn't recline completely without
power.
Dr. Ferrari was one of the millions of business owners and
residents forced to adapt as PG&E Corp. continued its massive
electricity shutdown meant to avert the type of deadly infernos
that killed dozens last year and propelled the utility into
bankruptcy court. The troubled utility said that about 600,000
customers were still without power Thursday morning and that
126,000 had been restored. PG&E provides gas and electricity to
about 16 million people, mainly in Northern California. With
multiple people in many households, millions are likely being
affected by the power outage.
The utility has said that it could take one to five days to
restore power to its customers. Customers were frustrated as they
tried to find information on the blackouts because the utility's
website wasn't working. By Thursday, PG&E had a new,
functioning site.
High winds of the sort that some areas of California experienced
Thursday and other areas were threatened with can down power lines
that, if active, can spark wildfires.
The second phase of the blackout began late Wednesday as
PG&E cut power to an additional 234,000 customers, including
those in Bay Area cities like San Jose, Oakland and Berkeley. The
utility had already cut power to about 513,000 customers across
Northern California.
Meanwhile, Southern California Edison shut off electricity on
Thursday to nearly 13,000 customers in parts of Los Angeles, Kern,
San Bernardino and Ventura counties due to the possibility that
downed power lines could spark wildfires there.
High winds overnight fueled a 40-acre wildfire in Moraga, one of
the Bay Area towns hit by the blackout. Homes were evacuated as
firefighters battled the blaze, which was mostly contained by
Thursday morning. There were no reported deaths or serious
injuries.
Cities were grappling with the loss of power overnight and
throughout the day Thursday. In Oakland, crews were busy putting up
signs to change intersections with traffic lights into four-way
stops. In Morgan Hill, a small city south of San Jose, police said
they were enforcing a curfew from 7 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. for
pedestrians.
"This curfew is for the safety of the community to reduce the
opportunity for crime," the city said on Facebook.
In Kensington, near the orthodontist office, Mairie Raxakoul was
trying to keep her inventory of cheeses cool with dry ice at
Raxakoul Coffee and Cheese. She tried to rent a generator, but none
was available, she said.
"We cannot afford to be closed," said Ms. Raxakoul.
In Half Moon Bay, Discount Cigarettes and Cigars was one of the
handful of the 30 shops and restaurants open in the Strawflower
Village shopping center Thursday afternoon. But the shop faces
potentially devastating losses because the humidors it needs to
keep an estimated $60,000-$70,000 worth of cigars cool and moist
had lost power hours earlier, said owner Haron Rahmati. The cigars
dried out so quickly that about half the customers who journeyed to
the store Thursday morning refused to make a purchase. The cigars,
which cost as much as $600 a box, aren't covered by insurance.
"This thing is killing me," Mr. Rahmati said.
Erin Ailworth and Katherine Blunt contributed to this
article.
Write to Zusha Elinson at zusha.elinson@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 10, 2019 18:34 ET (22:34 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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