Planned power outages begin in N. California

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KCRA/KNTV/KOBI) – Residents across northern and central California are in the dark this morning after PG&E pulled the plug on electricity at midnight. They stay strong winds are causing concerns a wildfire could start like last year’s deadly Camp Fire.

Some 800,000 people could be affected by the outages.

PG&E says it is proactively cutting off power to prevent equipment from sparking a large fire.

The company has been blamed in recent years for several fires that have burned tens of thousands of acres including the fire in Paradise, California that killed 86 people.

Residents are gathering supplies, water, groceries, and gas to prepare for the power outages which could last until Thursday.

Many residents are taking it in stride and are glad the company is taking precautions and some think the outages are overkill. California resident Tom Sundquist said, “I can’t help but think maybe it’s an overreaction and maybe a little payback for people criticizing PG&E.”

For others, the outages are making it expensive to live. Resident Dev Tastet said, “It’s getting expensive. I mean, on top of everything else, I don’t want to keep replacing groceries too. I’ve had to replace 100% of my life, now I’m having to replace groceries all the time because the wind blew.

According to PG&E, more than half of California’s counties will be affected by the outage.

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