PG&E Restores More Than 350,000 Customers from Week’s First Storm
December 16 2021 - 12:29AM
Business Wire
Thousands of PG&E and Contract Workers
Deployed in Response to Today’s Second Storm
Ongoing Adverse Weather and Access Issues Due
to Low Snow Delaying Restoration for Some Customers in Hardest Hit
Areas
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) crews have restored
essentially all customers who lost electricity following the storm
that hit Northern and Central California earlier this week. As
PG&E continues to assess damage, make repairs and safely
restore service to remaining customers, crews are prepared to
respond to a second storm moving through Northern and Central
California.
Since the start of this series of storms on Sunday, PG&E has
restored power to more than 350,000 customers. Through yesterday,
power had been restored to more than 91 percent of customers in six
hours or less. Overall, about 15,000 customers remain out of power
with about 11,000 of those related to outages that occurred with
the arrival of today’s second storm.
While most customers who lost power from the first storm have
been restored, heavy snow, avalanche warnings, road closures,
downed trees and fallen branches, and other access issues are
impeding the ability of PG&E crews to make repairs in some
areas. Additionally, the storm currently moving through Northern
and Central California could hinder restoration efforts, and result
in additional outage activity.
The current storm is not predicted to be as strong as the first,
but is still expected to result in low-altitude snow across the
Northern Coastal Range and Sierra Nevada areas as it moves
throughout PG&E’s service area tonight and Thursday. PG&E’s
meteorology team is anticipating peak gusts of 30-45 mph across the
state, reaching as far south as the Santa Cruz Range and Merced
County.
Restoration Details
This week’s winter storms have damaged PG&E’s infrastructure
throughout the service area, with 125 poles, 174 transformers, 866
spans of wire and 163 cross-arms needing repair or replacement.
Impacts have been most consequential in the Sierra, in the Santa
Cruz Mountains and other areas of the Central Coast and up north in
Humboldt and Mendocino counties.
This week, PG&E has 332 multi-person restoration crews
available to make repairs and restore power. Additionally, on duty
are 322 troublemen, who are the utility’s first responders to an
outage, and 431 vegetation management workers who work to keep
trees away from powerlines.
In all, 2,154 coworkers and contract personnel have boots on the
ground in response to the weather. In addition, hundreds more
PG&E employees staffed emergency centers and performed other
jobs related to storm response.
Keeping Customers Informed
PG&E knows the importance of keeping its customers informed.
Customers can view real-time outage information on its website
outage center and search by a specific address, by city or by
county. This site has been updated to include in-language support
for 16 languages.
Additionally, customers can sign up for outage notifications by
text, email or phone. PG&E will inform customers about the
cause of an outage, when crews are on their way, the estimated
restoration time, and when power is restored.
Storm Safety Tips
- Never touch downed wires: If you see a downed power line,
assume it is energized and extremely dangerous. Do not touch or try
to move it—and keep children and animals away. Report downed power
lines immediately by calling 9-1-1 and by calling PG&E at
1-800-743-5002.
- Gas and electric safety if flooding occurs. If a customer’s
home or business is threatened by rising waters, turn off all gas
appliances, or close gas appliance valves with a one-quarter turn.
If you are unable to shut gas appliances off, turn your gas service
off at the meter by using a wrench or other suitable tool to give
the valve a one-quarter turn, in either direction, until it is
perpendicular to the pipe. To shut off electricity, locate the main
switch at the electric panel and turn the switch off. Never touch
electrical equipment with wet hands or while standing in water.
Once floodwaters recede, PG&E will restore gas and electric
service to the community. When returning to their homes, customers
should not attempt to turn on their gas or electricity. They should
contact PG&E at 1-800-743-5000 to request that their services
be restored.
- Use generators safely: Customers with standby electric
generators should make sure they are properly installed by a
licensed electrician in a well-ventilated area. Improperly
installed generators pose a significant danger to customers, as
well as crews working on power lines. If using portable generators,
be sure they are in a well-ventilated area.
- Use flashlights, not candles: During a power outage, use
battery-operated flashlights, and not candles, due to the risk of
fire. And keep extra batteries on hand. If you must use candles,
please keep them away from drapes, lampshades, animals, and small
children. Do not leave candles unattended.
- Have a backup phone: If you have a telephone system that
requires electricity to work, such as a cordless phone or answering
machine, plan to have a standard telephone or cellular phone ready
as a backup. Having a portable charging device helps to keep your
cell phone running.
- Have fresh drinking water, ice: Freeze plastic containers
filled with water to make blocks of ice that can be placed in your
refrigerator/freezer during an outage to prevent foods from
spoiling. Blue Ice from your picnic cooler also works well in the
freezer.
- Secure outdoor furniture: Deck furniture, lightweight yard
structures and decorative lawn items should be secured as they can
be blown by high winds and damage overhead power lines and
property.
- Turn off appliances: If you experience an outage, unplug, or
turn off all electrical appliances to avoid overloading circuits
and to prevent fire hazards when power is restored. Simply leave a
single lamp on to alert you when power returns. Turn your
appliances back on one at a time when conditions return to
normal.
- Safely clean up: After the storm has passed, be sure to safely
clean up. Never touch downed wires and always call 8-1-1 or visit
811express.com at least two full business days before digging to
have all underground utilities safely marked.
Other tips can be found at www.pge.com/beprepared.
About PG&E
PG&E, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is a
combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16
million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central
California. For more information, visit pge.com and
pge.com/news.
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