PG&E alerts customers of potential PSPS

As of 7 p.m. on Sunday (Nov. 3), PG&E began notifications of a potential Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) that may shut off power for safety to approximately 15,000 customers in 17 counties and 3 tribal areas, with first outages on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the earliest, if weather conditions do not improve.

The criteria for calling a PSPS event—low relative humidity, diminished moisture of vegetation and gusting wind conditions— are forecasted to be met on Tuesday night.

Customers in the affected areas have been notified via email, phone call or text to help them prepare for power outages.  Visit PG&E's Outage Center to see if your county or home address falls within the affected areas.

PG&E preparations for the Election

PG&E is aware of the importance of any election, and the special concerns around this year’s presidential election. We began preparing more than a month ago to ensure reliable electric and gas service leading up to the election and through the counting of results. Here are some facts about our preparations:

• Working with state and local election officials we identified more than 7,000 Election Day polling locations in PG&E's service area as well as 48 tabulation centers. We continue to stay in contact with election officials to be able to respond to any power issues or needs that may arise.
• We immediately compared maps of the areas that could be potentially impacted by this week’s potential Public Safety Power Shutoff event with known locations of election facilities.
  • Tabulation Centers: No tabulation centers are currently in the scope of the PSPS. We also verified that each of the 48 tabulation centers have backup generation.
  • Polling Locations: As of 1030 Monday, two polling locations have been identified as being “in scope” for the PSPS – the Calpine Geothermal Visitor Center in Lake County, and Lakeside Elementary School in Los Gatos.  At both polling sites, the potential power shutoffs are planned for after the polls close at 8 p.m. We are staging temporary generation at both locations out of an abundance of caution.
• In addition to these specific sites, we have made plans to stage crews and emergency materials, including generators, across our service territory to quickly restore any unplanned or emergency outages that could potentially impact the election.
• Our Emergency Operations Center and regional Operational Emergency Centers are open for the PSPS and election preparations, and we are fully staffed to respond to any outages that may occur.