PG&E cuts power to 14,414 North Bay customers due to windy conditions

The Pacific, Gas & Electric Co. cut electricity Tuesday night to 14,414 North Bay customers, including in Sonoma County, as the utility moved forward with a massive power shut-off to minimize the threat of wildfires as gusty winds enter the region.

Affected customers in Lake, Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma counties lost power at 6 p.m. Tuesday, PG&E announced. The shut-offs were the first of their kind by the utility in the region this year to address wildfire risk.

Across a wider span of Northern California, the shut-offs were expected to affect 51,000 customers across 18 counties, including 4,563 customers in Lake County; 1,138 customers in Mendocino County; 6,849 customers in Napa County; and 1,864 customers in Sonoma County.

A PG&E map showed the North Bay outages were mostly in mountainous, rural areas. Major Sonoma County cities didn’t appear to be affected, but the outage area did take in parts of Sonoma Valley, including the outskirts of Oakmont, Kenwood, Glen Ellen and Sonoma, as well as a wide swath of Alexander Valley and the Mayacamas Mountains running southeast from Cloverdale. Residents south of Lake Sonoma, near Annapolis, also were in shut-off areas.

Customers could determine if their area was being monitored for a potential safety shut-off at pgealerts.alerts.pge.com/addresslookup.

The utility’s power shut-offs are a precautionary measure being taken in response to gusty winds that have placed much of Northern California under a red flag warning, which the National Weather Service issues during periods of warm temperatures, low humidity and strong winds.

Gusts were expected to reach 55 mph at elevations beginning at 1,000 feet, according to the weather service. Lower elevations could experience gusts of up to 45 mph.

“If the weather takes a turn, it could be more or less people” without power, PG&E spokeswoman Megan McFarland said Tuesday night.

The agency initially reported on Sunday that possible shut-offs could take place due to anticipated extreme weather affecting 39,000 customers. On Tuesday, in an update, the utility announced that 51,000 customers could lose power.

JD Guidi, another PG&E spokesman, said overall numbers were increased in response to upcoming weather conditions but he didn’t have specifics.

Restoration was expected to take place Wednesday afternoon when the red flag warning was scheduled to expire, PG&E said.

The red flag warning was expected to last through 3 p.m. Wednesday for eastern Sonoma County along with Napa, Lake and Mendocino counties. Most of western Sonoma County and central Marin County were under a low-risk warning.

Gusty winds also might bring smoke into the region from the country’s largest ongoing wildfire, the Dixie fire, which has burned more than 940 square miles as of Tuesday. It began July 13 in and around the Plumas and Lassen national forests and is less than a third contained.

Adding to the concern about smoke is the Caldor fire, which has burned more than 10 square miles of land since Saturday in an area southeast of Placerville.

Wind may be present most of Wednesday and anyone who suffers from respiratory ailments should avoid outdoor activities because of the smoke, said Cyndi Foreman, Sonoma County Fire District division chief and fire marshal.

“This is where people really need to be cautious, careful and ready,” she said.

Meteorologist Brooke Bingaman said this week’s wind event is “atypical, but it’s not shocking” for mid-August. Another wind event is anticipated Wednesday evening through Thursday, but she said it won’t be big enough to require a red flag warning.

Foreman countered that any wind can be a problem in the North Bay.

“Wind has been the enemy of Sonoma County for four years,” Foreman said, referring to 2017, when Tubbs and Nuns fires burned more than 5,300 homes and killed 24 people.

Santa Rosa is just outside the area under the red flag warning, but Assistant Santa Rosa Fire Marshal Paul Lowenthal noted past fires, including the Tubbs fire, began elsewhere before impacting the city.

His department is ensuring each station is properly staffed during the red flag warning and he’s encouraging residents to take precautions, like subscribing to Sonoma County emergency alerts, charging cell phones and preparing bags for evacuations.

“The intention is not to create fear in our community; it’s to educate and inform,” Lowenthal said.

Press Democrat reporter Matt Pera contributed to this story

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi