PG&E Responds to Strong Winter Storm

UPDATE: 3 p.m., Monday, Dec. 16

PG&E crews have restored power to essentially all customers impacted by the recent storm. Since the beginning of the storm last Friday, about 5,800 PG&E personnel worked tirelessly to restore power to more than 510,000 customers. 

UPDATE: 3:45 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 15

UPDATE: 7:30 a.m., Sunday, Dec. 15

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PG&E crews are working safely and as quickly as possible to restore customer outages caused by a strong winter storm that moved through PG&E’s service area Friday and Saturday.

As of 7 a.m. Sunday morning, power has been restored to more than 350,000 customers since the beginning of the event — 83 percent restored within six hours. However, the widespread weather impacts have impeded access to some areas.

Although the storm has largely exited our service area, outages still linger in some areas that have been difficult for repair crews to safely reach.

Ron Richardson, Emergency Operations Center Commander, said “We recognize how disruptive major storms and power outages can be to people’s lives. We share the desire to return service as quickly as possible, ensuring our customers’ and our coworkers’ safety.”

The storm produced heavy rain and winds. On Friday evening, wind gusts of 95 mph were recorded in Humboldt County. On Saturday, wind gusts exceeding 80 mph were recorded in Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo, Mariposa and Fresno counties. Wind gusts of 70-plus mph were also recorded Saturday along the Central Coast.

The adverse weather resulted in trees, limbs and other debris falling into powerlines, damaging equipment, and interrupting electric service.

PG&E prepared for this storm and pre-staged crews and resources across its service area. This includes materials such as power poles, powerlines, transformers, and other electric equipment at yards throughout its service area to make equipment repairs and restore power to affected areas safely and as quickly as possible.

PG&E crews and resources are responding safely and as quickly as possible to storm-related outages; there are approximately 5,700 personnel dedicated to our storm response.

PG&E customers can find real-time updates regarding service interruptions via the online outage center. Renters and others without a PG&E account may also use this portal to sign up for outage notifications by text, email, or phone.

Continue to find daily updates around our storm response and restoration here at PG&E Currents.

UPDATE: 6:30 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 14

A strong winter storm moved into PG&E’s northern service area Friday (Dec. 13) evening with great intensity and made its way south. The combination of strong winds and rain is producing significant outages throughout much of the service area.

The storm produced heavy rain and winds. On Friday evening, wind gusts of 95 mph were recorded in Humboldt County and 79 mph in Marin County. Early Saturday, 83 mph winds were recorded at SFO (San Francisco International Airport).

PG&E prepared for this storm and pre-staged crews and resources across its service area. This includes materials such as power poles, powerlines, transformers, and other electric equipment at yards throughout its service area to make equipment repairs and restore power to affected areas safely and as quickly as possible.

PG&E crews are actively working to support the safe response to repair damage and restore power. There are approximately 5,700 personnel dedicated to our storm response and have restored power to more than 278,000 customers since the beginning of the event.

If an outage does occur, PG&E customers can find real-time updates via the online outage center. Renters and others without a PG&E account may also use this portal to sign up for outage notifications by text, email, or phone.

Continue to find daily updates around our storm response and restoration here at PG&E Currents.

4:30 p.m., Friday, Dec. 13

PG&E has positioned crews and resources across its service area to support the safe and swift response to repair damage and restore power outages that may result from the forecasted heavy rain and strong winds that will impact much of Northern California beginning today and through the weekend. The National Weather Service has issued advisories, watches and warnings throughout portions of the territory; these can be viewed on the PG&E Weather Map.

According to PG&E Meteorologist Evan Duffey, “strong winds will arrive in the northern part of PG&E’s service area Friday with the central and southern regions seeing adverse weather follow on Friday night and Saturday. This will be a fast-moving storm that will also deliver significant precipitation and widespread damaging winds. We’ve worked closely with our Operations teams to provide insights and data around where the strongest impact from the storm will take place.”

PG&E uses storm outage prediction models coupled with AI and machine learning to determine potential storm-related damage along with the potential timing, location, and number of power outages to pre-position storm response resources including, electric crews, troublemen, distribution line technicians, and system inspectors who serve as the utility's first responders, along with personnel who will monitor electric incidents for public safety.

“Our crews are in position and prepared to safely and quickly respond in support of our customers and hometowns following this storm,” said Peter Kenny, PG&E senior vice president, Electric Operations.

PG&E has also prestaged power poles, powerlines, transformers, and other electric equipment at yards throughout its service area to make equipment repairs and restore power to affected areas safely and as quickly as possible.

Keeping customers informed

If an outage does occur, PG&E customers can find real-time updates via the online outage center, including status updates the assessments, repair and estimated time of restoration.

Renters and others without a PG&E account may also use this portal to sign up for outage notifications by text, email, or phone.

Daily updates around storm response and restoration will be available on PG&E Currents.

Storm safety tips

As PG&E follows its plan to prepare for the storm, customers are urged to prepare their families as well.

• Never touch downed wires: If you see a downed power line, assume it is energized and extremely dangerous. Do not touch or try to move it—and keep children and animals  away. Report downed power lines immediately by calling 9-1-1 and then PG&E at 1-800-743-5002.
• Use generators safely: Customers with standby electric generators should ensure they are properly installed by a licensed electrician in a well-ventilated area. Improperly installed generators pose a significant danger to customers, as well as crews working on powerlines. If using portable generators, be sure they are in a well-ventilated area.
• Use flashlights, not candles: During a power outage, use battery-operated flashlights and not candles, due to the risk of fire. And keep extra batteries on hand. If you must use candles, please keep them away from drapes, lampshades, animals and small children. Do not leave candles unattended.
• Have a backup phone: If you have a telephone system that requires electricity to work, such as a cordless phone or answering machine, plan to have a standard telephone or cellular phone ready as a backup. Having a portable charging device helps to keep your cell phone running.
• Have fresh drinking water and ice: Freeze plastic containers filled with water to make blocks of ice that can be placed in your refrigerator/freezer to prevent food spoilage.
• Secure your outside furniture: Strong winds can blow lawn chairs and other outdoor items into powerlines.
• Turn off appliances: If you experience an outage, unplug or turn off all electrical appliances to avoid overloading circuits and to prevent fire hazards when power is restored. Simply leave a single lamp on to alert you when power returns.
• Safely clean up: After the storm has passed, be sure to safely clean up. Never touch downed wires and always call 8-1-1 or visit 811express.com at least two full business days before digging to have all underground utilities safely marked.

Other tips can be found at: Safety and Preparedness, Storm Safety and Safety Action Center.