Is Pge Turning Off Power Again

PG&Due east Shutoffs: What to Know About Power Outages in the Bay Area

Sep eight, 2020

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PG&Eastward cut ability to tens of thousands of Californians in 2019 during extremely windy and dry out conditions. Now the utility may cut power to people again.  (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Updated Aug. 17 2021

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Go to:

• How do I prepare my home for a ability shutoff?
• Real-fourth dimension PG&E power outage map (opens new folio).
• Why are these outages happening?

During a wildfire, there are a few reasons your power might exit, including planned outages determined past your utility company or ability grid operator, and unplanned outages.

How will I know about a planned shutoff in my area?

To be notified of a planned shutoff in your surface area — what PG&East calls a "public safety ability shutoff" — update your contact data with PG&East. Y'all tin can as well telephone call them at (866) 743-6589 to update your contact data and to receive notifications. Yous tin sign up to be notified past Aught lawmaking or bank check their website for the most recent information.

Utilities are supposed to notify emergency responders of a potential power shutoff 48 to 72 hours in advance and notify regular customers somewhere between 24 and 48 hours beforehand. There should likewise exist follow-up letters a few hours before a shutoff begins and again during the shutoff.

If there is a power shutoff, here's what you demand to know:

How tin can I prepare for a power shutoff?

After an alarm most a potential ability shutoff, PG&East suggests expecting to exist without power for more than than 48 hours. If a power shutoff affects a large number of customers, information technology tin can accept multiple days for the utility to do prophylactic checks and get the power turned back on. In some cases, if possible, you might consider staying with family or friends during the outage to puddle resources. If you rely on power for medical needs, you may want to stay with a family fellow member or friend who has power.

Preparing for an emergency takes time and money — something many of us have in short supply. During planned shutoffs, PG&E opens daytime, drop-in Community Resource Centers, or CRCs, offering ADA-attainable restrooms and paw-washing stations, medical equipment and device charging, Wi-Fi, bottled water, snacks, air-workout or heating, seating and water ice. Search for a resource heart in your canton here.

Disabled and older people can call 211 or text "PSPS" to 211211 to access local health and social services including medical support, shelter and food. Support is available in multiple languages.

For those with more resources, consider buying ii sets of the items listed beneath and coordinating with a neighbor in demand.

Things to practice in accelerate of a power shutoff, co-ordinate to PG&Eastward:

• Create an emergency kit with enough h2o and nonperishable food to last upwardly to a week. (Hither's what nosotros suggest goes in an emergency pocketbook in case of a burn down — with COVID-19 in mind.)
• Talk to your doctor in advance about how to prepare with medications or mobility needs.
• Charge your cellphone and whatever necessary devices. Have additional batteries for any medical devices that crave electricity. If yous don't have a landline or your landline won't work without ability, then have fill-in batteries for any cellphones likewise. (PG&E's Portable Bombardment Programme provides free backup portable batteries for those with life-assisting electrical medical equipment who also are enrolled in their Medical Baseline Plan and California Alternate Rates for Energy or Family Electric Rate Assistance programs, and who live in high fire-threat districts. Those who rely on power to live independently can access portable backup batteries, hotel accommodations, accessible transportation and nutrient vouchers through the California Foundation for Contained Living Centers' Disability Disaster Access and Resources program.)
• Have a list of emergency contacts prepared.
• If yous plan to apply a generator, check it beforehand to ensure it is ready to go and will operate safely.
• Have flashlights and extra batteries on hand. (Try to avoid using candles.)
• Accept extra greenbacks on hand and a full tank of gas. ATMs and gas stations may non work during a power outage.
• Make certain you know how to manually open any door that requires electricity, such as garage doors or building doors that require key cards.

What should I do during a power shutoff?

Once the ability is off, go along in mind that emergency responders may be dealing with their own backup power needs and any emergency medical situations that comes up. Practice not telephone call 911 unless it'southward an emergency. Additionally, infrastructure such every bit traffic lights may be affected — so proceed with circumspection. San José has asked residents to avoid driving if the power is close off and to end at dark signals.

• Unplug or turn off any appliances and equipment to prevent damage from surges when the ability is restored. (PG&E recommends keeping i lamp turned on to alert you when the power is back, and to then turn each apparatus back on 1 past i.)
• A refrigerator can go along food cold for nearly four hours and a freezer for most 48 hours — if they're kept closed. Program to rely on coolers with ice; ice is available gratuitous at your county'due south Community Resources Center.
• Utilize generators, campsite stoves and grills outdoors just.
• You may also desire to check to see if there are cooling centers in your area.

As always, you should besides consider checking on neighbors, particularly those who may demand aid.

Power will be restored subsequently the dangerous conditions have passed and once rubber checks have been washed for all the lines in that expanse. If there are a large number of people who have had their power shut off, then it may take multiple days before PG&Due east gets the power turned back on for everyone.

If you experience a loss due to extended ability outages — such as the nutrient in your refrigerator going bad — you can file a claim with the utility.

Why are these PG&E public rubber power shutoffs happening?

California's 2020 wildfire season was the country's biggest on record, with more than four million acres burned.

The previous record was set just two years ago and included the deadliest wildfire in state history — the Army camp Fire — which swept through the community of Paradise and killed 85 people.

That burn down was started by PG&E ability lines among potent winds and tinder-dry out conditions. To baby-sit against new wildfires and new liability, in 2019 the utility began preemptive power shutoffs when conditions are exceptionally dangerous.

Too in 2019, the California Public Utilities Commission canonical rules for how the country's major utilities should preemptively close off the ability during times of high fire danger. However, some utilities, such equally San Diego Gas and Electrical, had been shutting off the power to assistance foreclose fires for years earlier.

In 2020, Napa Canton Supervisor Diane Dillon said the utility should find other ways to foreclose its equipment from starting fires in windy conditions instead of planned outages.

"PG&E'southward had three years, and they've been working adequately diligently, to put in durable, resilient transmission and distribution lines, and they have not completed that job," she said.

How are shutoffs different from rolling blackouts?

Sometimes Californians too lose power because of strains on the system. The California Contained Arrangement Operator (ISO) manages the delicate rest of power supply and demand on the state's electric grid and tin can gild utilities to cut power to customers equally it did

"It's one big interconnected system," said John Phipps, an operations managing director with California ISO. "Energy being generated at i found tin can feed homes completely on the other terminate of the state."

For example, Phipps said, "if Diablo Canyon had issues in Northern California, that could impact San Diego."

This story has been updated. Check the PG&E resource page for the latest updates.

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Source: https://www.kqed.org/news/11836990/pge-shutoffs-are-here-again-what-to-know-about-power-outages-today