[UPDATE 11:22 a.m. Monday:] Over 17,000 PG&E Customers Without Power After Company De-Energizes Parts of Grid Because of Critical Weather Conditions for Fires to Start and Spread
The National Weather Service warns that much of Northern California is at increasing risk of wildfire tonight. High winds and low humidity will create critical conditions until tomorrow night.
PG&E has “proactively turned off power in extreme fire-risk areas of Lake, Napa and Sonoma counties based on localized weather forecasts calling for wind gusts of up to 50 mph tonight into Monday AM. Approx. 17,483 customers are impacted,” according to a tweet from their spokesperson, Deanna Contreras.
There is no estimated time to restore power.
Additional firefighters are on duty throughout the region also. Below is a tweet from the Santa Rosa Fire Department showing fire trucks moving firefighters. Just a little over a year ago, similar weather conditions ignited multiple fires from Mendocino to the Bay Area killing 44 people.
Given the Red Flag Warning that’s in effect, high winds in upper elevations of Sonoma County & the potential for extreme fire weather, additional firefighters (as seen here) from numerous fire departments across Sonoma County are on duty thru tomorrow (Monday) at noon. pic.twitter.com/QMHdM1SgEV
— Santa Rosa Fire Department (@SantaRosaFire) October 15, 2018
UPDATE Monday: PG&E tweeted a little before 5 a.m., “Public Safety Power Shutoff remains in effect for 17k customers in North Bay and 42k in Sierra Foothills. We continue to monitor the weather and will provide updates to our impacted customers in Napa, Lake, Sonoma, Amador, El Dorado and Calaveras counties.”
UPDATE 11:22 a.m. Monday: PG&E put out the following update:
PG&E crews have now begun patrols to thoroughly inspect the lines for any necessary repairs by helicopter, in vehicles and on foot. The company anticipates crews will complete equipment inspections by the end of the day, pending safe working conditions for our employees. Crews will then begin to safely restore power to customers.
Due to extreme weather, PG&E shut off power in carefully targeted areas. Thorough inspections are necessary to ensure equipment and lines are not damaged and that our crews are able to safely and quickly restore power to customers.
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Zero wind in Piercy. 2000’ elevation.
Hang in there Santa Rosa, a night without power is better than a repeat!
There testing humans for disasters. Just like the Hawaii ICBM test a year ago….. there will be more
I don’t think it’s quite that conspiratorial, I have a close friend that works for PG&E, they took quite a hit with the recent lawsuits and they’re a little trigger shy so to speak. I would imagine we’ll see a lot more power shut offs in the Comming Summers.
Yeah because customers should have to deal with no power while paying ridiculous amounts of money for said power and now customers get to cover the costs of the fines pge has to pay for blowing up a neighborhood and also causing wildfires that killed people, instead of the company doing its job and maintaining its power lines/poles. Cry me a friggin river.
Dont let the poor us BS pge is laying on thick get to you, theyre a money hungry huge corporation who has a monopoly on power&gas. The “alternative” power offerred us in humboldt still goes to pge for “renting” the lines but they dont have to maintain those lines. What a deal for them! Do you really think a big corp is going to let a small energy group provide power without making $ off it??? No way, they would have fought it tooth and nail. Their tree trimming around poles is BS and a racket, 3 times the crew came and did a crappy job each time. Still had branches on the lines.
New regs make it so if you spend 10,000 ormore per year on electricity pge has to turn you into IRS. So theyre losing tons of money due to new rules. They let the grid in no hum get maxxed out by indoor grows, and no they did not turn folks in.
Dont believe them, dont trust them, pge appealed the decision against them 3 times in the san leandro explosion case. 3 times. Probably could have paid the fines with that appeal money instead of all of us having to pay it now. They are a nasty corp full of great workers on the ground and awful horrible execs at the top.
WEll said, icon down vote.
With so many people suddenly bashing those who pray for others, I found myself going down many rabbit holes that connect the Utility companies with many strange research results.
Hey THC, are you the one who’s always questioning the HAF? They’re mentioned in this document. https://www.cia.gov/library/abbottabad-compound/FC/FC2F5371043C48FDD95AEDE7B8A49624_Springmeier.-.Bloodlines.of.the.Illuminati.R.pdf
Which led me to: http://armandoalejandro.blogspot.com/2016/04/assets-of-lewis-cass-payseur.html?m=1
Which led me to: https://www.neonrevolt.com/2018/08/16/p-the-unseen-masters-of-all-qanon-greatawakening-whoisp-illuminati-13bloodlines-payseur-springmeier/
Which led me to here in hopes of enticing others to do a deeper search before my brain implodes.
Down the rabbit hole.
“Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it.”
Your links clearly point to the former… which is not reassuring.
Thanks ULLR! I finally made it through the comment section on Neon’s link, and haven’t caught my second wind yet.
Happy hunting!
Crazy high wind in parts of New Harris, none in others.
Freezing cold and foggy in Arcata
That only last for 10.5 more months, get good with jaffeys
Zero wind in miranda 1900′ of elevation
No wind in Redway , peaceful
I think this is the “New” age to counter political correctness. It is PC to shut off power. Maybe it is PC to shut off China imports too, as a matter of fact it is PC to shut off all oil imports from terrorist countries. The power company decides to turn the lights off,,, what is next?? Who really needs electricity food and water anyway? Good my prepper experience has brought me to today. I just didn’t realize it would be a power company starting armageddon.
I’ve been prepped n ready….. bring it on! Funny how 1/2 the worlds population would die with out electricity?? Ponder that. We really are a weak species.
How dare PG&E “start Armageddon”! LMFAO!! 😄😆🤣😂😭😅😀
Because that’s Donald The False Trumpet’s job, according to Nostradamus. 🎃🏌️♂️🔥🔥💥💣💥🔥🔥
Maybe a good ounce of prevention… maybe not. Although the risk of power-line-related fires goes down, think of all the people lighting candles, breaking out the Bunsen burners or Coleman stoves, pouring gasoline to start generators, etc. In other words, more flame- and fuel-related ways that people will compensate for not having the juice. Hmmm.
Laura,
Great point – let’s hope folks roll with a battery-operated lamp. PG&E probably is relieved that any fires won’t be blamed on them. This seems to be about liability and protecting PG&E.
That is my thinking, Gina. It is all about PG&E’s liability.
Of course it is. Whether shutting off power is reasonable or not depends on whether they were sued for things that were impossible to prevent or whether they were preventable. If there was nothing that PG&E could do to stop such inadvertent fire starts, then shutting down is their only option.
That is a great point Laura!!!
Yup, pge should bare the burden of all others inadequacies….. Wtf did you people expect to happen? They are covering their asses, and I dont blame them.
…….. and the first person to die because power was deliberately turned off will fall on the shoulders of….. who?
It’s no financial liability on PG&E. PG&E has already asked for rate increases to cover their losses. They are a corporation. In American corporations don’t lose money unless they are retail and Trump made sure of that through tariffs. And the last Trump tax give away to the ultra rich will insure the underpaid Middle and Lower class will foot the bill for PG&E’s losses. They have raised the price of gas to the consumer five time since the explosion around San Bruno. They were fined 30 Million dollars by the State. And now you and I are paying for that PG&E faulty gas lines explosion. PG&E calls it testicular financial planning. It might take them a couple of years to make back to $30 million, but as a commodities corporation they have all the time they need. The State of California Energy Board has NEVER refused PG&E a rate increase. All because they are politically strong enough place Kavanaugh like people on the Board. I have written several complaints to the Board and NEVER received one response. And with the Trump/Republicans passing the last tax bill they never will have to answer customers complaints. Unless you use Propane PG&E has you right where they want you. In their testicular financial vice. The 5% rich win again. And because a lot of you don’t vote you LOSE!!
Yeah, but if they start a fire they can sue themselves.
Laura –
You are EXACTLY on point.
However, we have allowed this corporate world of litigation to grow to the extent that lawyers own and run our country.
Ever count how many of our presidents in our country’s history were previously lawyers?
(Spoiler alert: it is more than HALF.)
WE GAVE THE LAWYERS THE POWER. Now we have to deal with the repercussions – and since we still continue to elect lawyers, there is no end in sight.
This reads like a cheap-shot retaliation from PGE. Last year they were blamed for all but the Tubbs fire, so now, to show their great concern they are deciding to block grid turn off any possible concern of threat of what possibly could happen with high winds. The pandora’s box is opened now randomly turning off power. Why don’t they just turn off everybody now and go away and let a more responsible power source develop? I hate Monopolies. Who’s in charge there? One CEO DOTARD?
And just like a typical crowd of crazies. They’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t, if PG&E were to accidentally start a fire this time of year they would be telecommunicationlly lynched via keyboard vigilantes. Yet if they take proactive steps to reduce the fire hazard and save their bottom line, they’re accused of purposely shutting off power just to fuck with people. LOL
If you don’t like being dependent on a monopoly then go out and spend about 10,000 bucks. You can have a very nice setup and be pretty much completely independent from the grid, in fact for 10 grand you will probably be selling a little power back to PG&E for pennies on the dollar. When my dad first built on our property back in the 80s PG&E wasn’t an option, so we’ve been living off solar, hydro and backup generator for the last 38 years. It’s always a bummer when we make the Trek into town, only to discover the power is out and the cashiers can’t even do simple addition and subtraction on a piece of paper…
Try about 30,000 than u can sell some back. My daughter did this in Col., probably even more in Ca.
But being off the grid is priceless…
My first ‘professional’ job after college and the army was mgt trainee with pg&e, then I moved on.
Been off the grid for 44 years now, still enjoying it.
Why haven’t they buried the lines yet?
Why does Calif bail out the Bank of Calif the last time the utility service had problems?
Why does Calif agree to make the consumers pay more for their utilities?
Who owns the utilities?
Who ‘really’ owns the utilities?
Burying lines isn’t that easy. It’s much cheaper to maintain aerial lines and aerial lines have better transmission efficiency. Resistance increases in heat and conduit holds heat. It is also difficult to find breaks without visual inspection. New tech will change the inspection process but not the physics of Ohms.
Let’s hope they gofundme for the necessary tech needed before next fire season then.
Hella randomly turning off power….. FFS!
Living without P.G.& E. Is doable. It’s expensive. Solar,generators, wind. Take responsibility for yourself be self sufficient. Stop whining.
Just buy a generator. Have enough fuel to get ‘through’ PG&E outages. EZ enough.
Unless one is medically dependant on an electric device or have a deep well, it is not necessary to have power at all. A wood stove in winter and a few solar charged items like a phone charger or lantern does it if you have some preserved food.
Dellib, I’m sure PGE would love to hear your ideas on how to manage thousands of miles of power lines through difficult terrain with the changing climate.
They paid dearly for something that was arguably out of their control. Can’t blame them for being proactive now.
With that logic, you would totally agree with randomly closing various parts of every freeway, highway and interstate because bad weather is coming and there could “possibly” be an accident? That is the EXACT lay down mentality you just used here. There is zero methodology or logic to their shut down choices and times.
Is this to protect their wallets from any legal liability? It sure as hell not for the environment or customer safety. Customer safety…reminds me of the attempted Hexavalent Chromium cover up, and how those angels treated that minor field issue and all the medical issues people developed.
There has been heavier wind storms than what is expected since those fires, and they did not randomly shut down power in previously unaffected areas.
This is a test. This is only a test. Power shut downs based on hypothesis and opinions. What PG&E meeting and where, made this decision? The only facts available were that wind has started fires in the past….sooo…
better shut down random sections of all freeways whenever there is rain, wind or dangerous darkness, until we find a solution to car accidents during these hazardous weather conditions…
Are you really not aware of the fact that roads are closed when conditions make travel unsafe? It happens pretty routinely in the winter time.
hrmm by paying dearly you mean having to stop their nearly 1 billion in dividen pay outs this year to stock holders ? monies they were profiting from short cutting line management and risking lives and homes to make ? or are you talking about their nearly 50 percent drop in stock price ? 3 dozen people lost their lives because this comapny wanted to make huge profits, yet not a single dissicion maker is in jail or even at risk of going to jail. that is hardly paying dearly.
what about all those who contribute to the grid like people with solar panels that get paid to energize the grid
Very high winds in the siskiyou mnts even below 2000 ft.
Hmmm,
How do you figure they paid dearly? They raised the rates of electricity for millions of people, seems to me they are making bank off their business business decisions, the electricity is used at higher rates when they turn the power back on, refrigerators/freezers need to get back up to temp, other electronics need recharging, house needs warming all of this ups the users consumption and PG&E gets paid lots and lots of money.
They got a slap on the hand for causing those fires, while using outdated and faulty equipment.
Now lets look at the repercussions, hundreds homeless without a possession to their name, now sleeping under bridges, people without a job because their place of employment was lost. People without their family members because they burned to death. Give me a break!
Stop feeling bad for PG&E
Do I get to deduct this amount of unavailable service from my PGE bill? How am I compensated for lack of supply of a promised product that I am charged for but do not recieve?
What they’re saying is they’re incapable of delivering their product despite charging the highest rates in the nation. This while CEO Geisha Williams draws a 1.085 million dollar salary. Must be nice pocketing a cool million a year for failing. The good ole gal cabal of PG&E and the PUC marches on————————-and on.
Yup. No utility ever ripped off the public til a woman became CEO.
Misogynists can always find a way to twist any subject of discussion into their own pathetic personal excuse to hate on women generally.
#BRETTKAVANAUGH.COM
It will be night time, go to sleep.
wonder if all those on grid mega growers down south have back up power?
wow what a great way for PG&E to say to the state….want to charge us for power line related fires….OK we will just turn the shit off.
Remember Ken Lay and Enron? 🐘💰⚖️