SONOMA COUNTY, Calif. (KTLA/CNN) – PG&E is announcing a new round of power outages Wednesday morning.
The company will shut off power to parts of 17 different counties, affecting some 180,000 thousand customers. That’s because dry and windy conditions make part of the Golden State ripe for wildfires.
A Los Angeles neighborhood getting back to normal after Monday’s wildfire threatened about 200 homes and scorched dozens of acres.
Crews in the Pacific Palisades area were able to get the blaze under control in just over 10 hours.
But now, other parts of the state are bracing for wildfires due to high winds and dry earth.
Earlier this month these same conditions led utility companies in the state to cut power to nearly 800,000 residents for safety concerns.
Pg&E meteorologist Scott Strenfel said, “We are expecting it to be the second-strongest off-shore wind event of the season thus far.”
Officials said anytime power shutoffs are necessary, residents will be contacted well in advance by texts, e-mails and phone calls.
Mark Quinlan is the senior director of PG&E’s Emergency Preparedness and Response. He said, “[We] fully understand the impact of not having electric service, we fully understand how disruptive that is to all of you.”
And more wildfires and outages are expected throughout the rest of wildfire season.
Director of Emergency Management for Sonoma County Christopher Godley said, “Well, we’re looking at potentially another event this Weekend, Thursday Friday… probably Saturday morning.”
PG&E said nearly 180,000 of its customers, in 17 counties, could be left in the dark.
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.