California’s largest protective power cut of the year began Sunday afternoon as Pacific Gas & Electric Co. began shutting off more than 361,000 customers – including 11,026 in Napa County – ahead of forecasts for windy and arid conditions raising the risk of wildfires.
PG&E had powered down 225,000 homes and businesses by 6 p.m., including customers in Napa and Sonoma counties, officials with the utility announced during a news conference. Another 136,000 customers were slated to go dark over the following four to six hours, as a pattern of strong winds is forecast to move from north to south through Northern California.
Earlier Sunday, PG&E announced on its website that Napa County outages could last through 10 p.m. Tuesday, as the utility waits for high winds to abate before inspecting lines and equipment for damage and restoring service. The nation’s largest utility said it could black out customers in 36 counties — including much of the Bay Area — as weather forecasts called for a return of bone-dry, gusty weather that carries the threat of downing or fouling power lines or other equipment that in recent years have been blamed for igniting massive and deadly blazes in central and Northern California.
Wind gusts as high as 53 mph were recorded by early Sunday evening and were predicted to strengthen overnight, driving down humidity levels at a time when drought-parched vegetation already is at greater risk of igniting, according to PG&E meteorologist Scott Strenfel.