Most Customers Restored Following This Week’s Two Major Winter Storms
December 17 2021 - 7:03PM
Business Wire
Most of the 490,000 Customers Who Lost Power
During Back-to-Back Wind, Rain and Snow Events Have Lights Back
On
Final Pocket of North Valley Customers Who Live
Where the Weather Created Access Issues Will Be Restored on
Saturday
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has restored most of
the customers who lost electricity following two powerful winter
storms that hit Northern and Central California just days apart
this week, and caused power outages to nearly 490,000 customers.
These storms battered the company’s service area with several days
of strong wind gusts, heavy rain and deep snow accumulation.
Restoration Details
As of noon Friday, nearly 12,000 customers, primarily in Butte
and Plumas counties, remained without power. Restoration for those
final customers will continue tonight and should be completed by
Saturday.
The remaining customers without power live where roads remain
closed due to heavy snowfall or other damage. PG&E will
continue to work to gain access to these customers and restore
power safely and as quickly as possible.
In recent days, PG&E moved crews from less-impacted areas to
the North Valley to bolster the restoration efforts there.
“Although rain and snow are certainly welcomed here in
California, we know that anytime a customer loses power that it’s
an inconvenience or worse, and that’s certainly true for customers
who experience longer duration outages,” said Marlene Santos,
PG&E’s Chief Customer Officer. “We want to thank our customers
for their patience and support. Rest assured that the 24,000 men
and women of PG&E worked with a single purpose this week: To
safely restore your power.”
This week’s winter storms have caused significant damage to
PG&E’s equipment, with repair or replacement needed for 176
poles, 262 transformers, 900 spans of wire and 236 cross-arms.
Areas that sustained the most storm damage during the two storms
include the Sierra region, Santa Cruz Mountains and other areas of
the Central Coast, and farther north in Humboldt and Mendocino
counties.
To help respond to these storms, more than 1,500 PG&E
employees and contractor workers have been working around the clock
to restore power for customers. This includes 229 multi-person
restoration crews, 235 troublemen, who are the utility’s first
responders, and 293 vegetation management workers. In addition,
hundreds more PG&E employees staffed emergency centers and
performed other jobs related to storm response.
Upcoming Weather Next Week
As PG&E continues to assess damage, make repairs and safely
restore service to remaining customers, crews are prepared to
respond to a third weather system expected to begin on Sunday. This
next storm is expected to bring the far North and North Coast
additional mountain snow and valley rain and will stall Sunday
before slowly progressing east across the state Monday into
portions of Wednesday.
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
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, 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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