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Monday, September 7, 2020

THIRD UPDATE: Humboldt Power Shutoff Slated for Midnight

Posted By Kimberly Wear @kimberly_wear on Mon, Sep 7, 2020 at 7:18 PM

THIRD UPDATE:

Outages in Humboldt County are now expected to impact around 3,000 customers and are likely to begin between midnight and 4 a.m.

SECOND UPDATE:

PG&E is planning to institute a Public Safety Power Shutoff in 22 counties due to a strong wind event forecast to hit around midnight, bringing increased wildfire risk, with some areas of Humboldt County included in the outage.

For an estimated 4,200 customers in Humboldt, the shutdown is slated to begin at midnight with restoration estimated for 7 p.m. Wednesday, according to an evening media briefing.

Mark Quinlan, PG&E’s incident commander, stated that an all-clear on weather conditions was expected to be issued around daybreak and crews would pre-stage to be ready to conduct the needed aerial patrols of equipment as soon as possible to get power restored.

He also stated deenergizing might be delayed in some areas “weather permitting.” Quinlan said that a series of changes PG&E implemented in the wake of last year’s PSPS events will allow some 69,000 customers to avoid interruption in this outage.

(Read more about those changes, including the “islanding” of the Humboldt Bay Power Plant, by clicking here.)

UPDATE:

The Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services reports that PG&E will sponsor two local Community Resource Centers, one in Hydesville and another in Weitchpec, in response to the Public Safety Power Shutoff.

For the most current information on Community Resource Centers, visit the PG&E website: https://pgealerts.alerts.pge.com/updates/psps-events.

PSPS UPDATE: PG&E is going to sponsor two (2) Community Resource Centers (CRCs) at the following locations:...
Posted by Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services on Monday, September 7, 2020

The Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services says the region is expected to see a Public Safety Power Shutoff that will impact around 4,200 residents beginning at some point tonight and ending around 7 p.m. on Sept. 9.

The OES notes that the situation is fluid and times, dates and locations are subject to change. Much of the region is expected to be powered by the Humboldt Bay Power Plant, which PG&E worked to "island" during one of the shutoffs.

According to PG&E, aound 158,000 residents of 21 counties may be impacted by the outage aimed at reducing wildfire risk due to a "potentially widespread, strong and dry offshore wind event."

Read more here about the multi-tiered plan PG&E says will translate into shorter, more localized Public Safety Power Shutoffs and better communication with the public before, during and after an event.

PSPS Update: Humboldt County is now expected to see PSPS impacts to 4207 customers. De-energization is expected to...
Posted by Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services on Monday, September 7, 2020

In Eureka and Arcata, the outage is expected to impact fewer than 20 customers in each city.

Individual address can be looked up with this link: https://pgealerts.alerts.pge.com/addresslookup/

Read more from PG&E below:

SAN FRANCISCO – Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) continues to monitor a potentially widespread, strong and dry offshore wind event forecasted to start Monday evening and continue through midday Wednesday.

Given the expected conditions, PG&E began its 24-hour advance notifications to customers in areas where PG&E may need to proactively turn off power for safety to reduce the risk of wildfire from energized power lines. PG&E is learning from past PSPS events, and this year will be making events smaller in size, shorter in length and smarter for customers.

Monday Flex Alert: Energy Conservation Needed 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. The extreme weather is also increasing demand on the statewide electric grid. Separate from any Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) event, the state’s grid operator has issued a Flex Alert, a voluntary call for energy conservation to help balance power supply with demand. That Flex Alert runs from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. today.

Potential Public Safety Power Shutoff to Start Monday
The potential PSPS starting Monday evening could impact .
in the Sierra foothills and North Bay. Specifically, customers in portions of the following counties are being notified: Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, El Dorado, Humboldt, Kern, Lake, Mariposa, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne and Yuba.

The potential PSPS event would not go into effect until late Monday evening. PG&E’s in-house meteorologists, as well as its Wildfire Safety Operation Center and Emergency Operations Center, continue to monitor conditions closely and additional customer notifications will be shared.

The scope of this event changed based on updated weather forecasts that showed the strengthening of the system, increasing the footprint of the expected wind pattern.

Customer notifications—via text, email and automated phone call—began late Saturday afternoon, approximately 48 hours prior to the potential shutoff. Customers enrolled in the company’s Medical Baseline program who do not verify that they have received these important safety communications will be individually visited in person by a PG&E employee when possible. A primary focus will be given to customers who rely on electricity for critical life-sustaining equipment.

Potentially Impacted Counties and Cities
The potential shutoff is currently expected to impact approximately 158,000 customers in the following 21 counties: Alpine County: 572 customers, including 6 medical baseline customers, in unincorporated areas
Amador County: 5,319 customers, including 380 medical baseline customers, in unincorporated areas
Butte County: 12,934 customers, including 1,079 medical baseline customers, in Butte Meadows, Chico, Oroville, Paradise and unincorporated areas
Calaveras County: 13,387 customers, including 590 medical baseline customers, in unincorporated areas
El Dorado County: 24,388 customers, including 1,534 medical baseline customers, in Greenwood, Kelsey, Placerville and unincorporated areas
Humboldt County: 4,207 customers, including 165 medical baseline customers, in unincorporated areas
Kern County: 638 customers, including 32 medical baseline customers, in Bakersfield and unincorporated areas
Lake County: 24 customers, including 0 medical baseline customers, in unincorporated areas
Mariposa County: 9 customers, including 0 medical baseline customers, in unincorporated areas
Napa County: 5,018 customers, including 173 medical baseline customers, in Calistoga, Saint Helena and unincorporated areas Nevada County: 23,305 customers, including 1,225 medical baseline customers, in Grass Valley, Nevada City and unincorporated areas
Placer County: 4,627 customers, including 299 medical baseline customers, in Loomis and unincorporated areas
Plumas: 4,105 customers, including 188 medical baseline customers, in unincorporated areas
Shasta County: 4,864 customers, including 347 medical baseline customers, in unincorporated areas
Sierra County: 1,098 customers, including 20 medical baseline customers, in unincorporated areas
Siskiyou County: 56 customers, including 0 medical baseline customers, unincorporated areas
Sonoma County: 17,686 customers, including 1,120 medical baseline customers, in Santa Rosa and unincorporated areas Tehama County: 1,224 customers, including 55 medical baseline customers, in unincorporated areas
Trinity County: 1,413 customers, including 73 medical baseline customers, in unincorporated areas
Tuolumne County: 29,886 customers, including 2,112 medical baseline customers, in Groveland, Sonora, Tuolumne and unincorporated areas
Yuba County: 2,395 customers, including 183 medical baseline customers, in unincorporated areas
Customers can look up their address online to find out if their location is being monitored for the potential safety shutoff at www.pge.com/pspsupdates.