Series of Storms Are Expected to Bring a White Christmas (and Rains and Wind) to Much of Northern and Central California
December 22 2021 - 03:30PM
Business Wire
PG&E is Preparing Crews and Materials
Before the Storms Arrive
Santa’s Sleigh won’t be the only blip seen on California radars
this week. Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E)
meteorologists are forecasting that a series of moderately strong
storm systems that began to arrive in northern areas Tuesday will
produce strong winds, steady rainfall, low elevation snow and
potential widespread power outages for the next week.
In advance of the storm, PG&E is confirming the availability
of crew resources during the holiday weeks, shifting planned
maintenance work until after the storm window closes, and hunkering
down for a long winter’s work period of holiday power
restoration.
“We know how much our customers depend on us to keep the lights
and the heat on, especially during the holidays. As we’ve studied
this developing weather pattern over the past several days, we’ve
activated our winter storm response plans so that we can be ready
when our customers need us,” said Wade Smith, PG&E’s Senior
Vice President, Electric Operations.
PG&E meteorologists, along with experts from the National
Weather Service, are calling for light to moderate rain and breezy
to gusty winds from the first weather system which arrived in the
Humboldt area yesterday and began moving south last night and this
morning. A second and colder weather system is expected to arrive
Friday into Saturday with widespread rain, lowering snow levels and
gusty winds Wind gusts of 30 to 45 mph are possible with the
passage of this system with snow levels down to around 2,000 feet
in some areas.
Winter storms produce wet and windy conditions that can cause
trees, limbs and other debris to fall into power lines, damage
equipment and interrupt electric service. In some areas, ground
already saturated by previous storms, along with
drought-intensified conditions that weakened vegetation, could
cause more trees to fall into our equipment and cause power
outages.
PG&E’s meteorology team has developed a Storm Outage
Prediction Model that incorporates real-time weather forecasts,
historical data and system knowledge to accurately show where and
when storm impacts will be most severe. This model enables the
company to pre-stage crews and equipment as storms approach to
enable rapid response to outages. Those activities are taking place
now.
Among other actions being taken by PG&E:
- Workers are prepared to tackle restoration in challenging
weather conditions and are supported by the utility’s geosciences
team. Geosciences is monitoring potential post-wildfire debris
flows from incoming rains which could impact PG&E’s equipment
and vegetation around its equipment.
- PG&E is also distributing power poles, power lines,
transformers and other electric equipment from our three materials
centers to yards throughout our service territory to restore power
to impacted areas as quickly as possible.
- We will also be activating local operations emergency centers
throughout our service area in impacted regions to allocate all
staff and resources to restoration efforts.
Keeping Customers Informed
PG&E knows how important it is to keep 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 let customers know 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 then PG&E at
1-800-743-5002.
- 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.
- Use generators safely: Customers with standby electric
generators should ensure 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.
- 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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