PG&E Plans To Restore Power For Most Northern California Customers Affected By Fire Danger Outage

Updated 6:06 p.m.

Note: This story has been updated to clarify what areas are affected by the public safety power shut down.

(AP) — PG&E said Monday it planned to restore power by midnight to 70 percent of customers in Northern California who were without power since Sunday night as the utility attempted to mitigate the risk of wildfires.

About 60,000 customers were affected by the power shut-off, the company said in a statement. PG&E had notified 97,000 customers of the possibility that power would be turned off, but said conditions did not require all of those customers to be affected.

The move came as strong winds swept California, knocking down trees and power lines. One woman in Southern California was killed when a tree fell onto her car.

As of 8:48 p.m. Sunday PG&E had shut off power to 42,000 customers in Amador, El Dorado and Calaveras counties. Affected areas included:

• El Dorado County (Aukum, Camino, Coloma, Cool, Diamond Springs, El Dorado, Fair Play, Garden Valley, Georgetown, Greenwood, Grizzly Flats, Kelsey, Kyburz, Mount Aukum, Omo Ranch, Pacific House, Placerville, Pollock Pines, Shingle Springs, Silver Fork, Somerset, Strawberry, Twin Bridges)
• Amador County (Fiddletown, Jackson, Pine Grove, Pioneer, Plymouth, Sutter Creek, Volcano)
• Calaveras County (Glencoe, Mokelumne Hill, Mountain Ranch, Rail Road Flat, West Point, Wilseyville)

Another 17,481 customers are affected in Lake, Napa and Sonoma counties:

• Lake County (Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, Clearlake Park, Cobb, Finley, Hidden Valley Lake, Kelseyville, Lakeport, Lower Lake, Middletown)
• Napa County (Angwin, Calistoga, Deer Park, Lake Berryessa, Napa, Pope Valley, Saint Helena)
• Sonoma County (unincorporated northeastern areas of the county)

PG&E spokeswoman Melissa Subottin said power was also cut to hospitals and other medical providers that are required to have backup power sources. PG&E officials visited 4,400 medical customers in the affected areas to warn them of the possible outages, she said.

Decisions on when to turn the power back on would rely on "weather conditions and any repairs needed to PG&E’s electrical equipment," according to a press release from the utility.​

The utility issued a statement Sunday evening saying the move was prompted by extreme fire weather conditions and strong winds.

Red flag fire warnings hit areas including the East Bay hills in Oakland and Fremont, the hills of Napa and eastern Sonoma counties, the Diablo Range, the North Bay mountains, the Sacramento Valley and the northern Sierra Nevada and Northern Coast Range.

Pat Hogan, senior vice president of electric operations, says: "Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and the communities we serve. We know how much our customers rely on electric service, and we have made the decision to turn off power as a last resort given the extreme fire danger conditions these communities are experiencing."​

PG&E said around 70,000 customers could be affected in these Sierra foothills areas:

• Butte County (Berry Creek, Brush Creek, Clipper Mills, Feather Falls, Forbestown, Oroville)
• Sierra County (Alleghany, Downieville, Goodyears Bar, Pike City, Sierra City)
• Placer County (Alta, Applegate, Auburn, Baxter, Colfax, Dutch Flat, Emigrant Gap, Foresthill, Gold Run, Loomis, Meadow Vista, Weimar)
• Nevada County (Chicago Park, Grass Valley, Nevada City, North San Juan, Penn Valley, Rough and Ready, Soda Springs, Washington)
• El Dorado County (Aukum, Camino, Coloma, Cool, Diamond Springs, El Dorado, Fair Play, Garden Valley, Georgetown, Greenwood, Grizzly Flats, Kelsey, Kyburz, Mount Aukum, Omo Ranch, Pacific House, Placerville, Pollock Pines, Shingle Springs, Silver Fork, Somerset, Strawberry, Twin Bridges)
• Amador County (Fiddletown, Jackson, Pine Grove, Pioneer, Plymouth, Sutter Creek, Volcano)
• Plumas County (La Porte)
• Calaveras County (Glencoe, Mokelumne Hill, Mountain Ranch, Rail Road Flat, West Point, Wilseyville)
• Yuba County (Brownsville, Camptonville, Challenge, Dobbins, Marysville, Oregon House, Strawberry Valley)

Around 17,000 customers could be affected in these North Bay areas:

• Lake County (Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, Clearlake Park, Cobb, Finley, Hidden Valley Lake, Kelseyville, Lakeport, Lower Lake, Middletown)
• Napa County (Angwin, Calistoga, Deer Park, Lake Berryessa, Napa, Pope Valley, Saint Helena)
• Sonoma County (Cloverdale, Geyserville, Healdsburg, Santa Rosa)