SAN FRANCISCO: California’s largest utility began cutting power to 27,500 northern customers Monday evening as fall brings back dangerous weather conditions and the company tries to head off wildfires sparked by electrical equipment.
The utility began shutting down power in Butte, Nevada, and Yuba in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
The power will remain off until conditions are safer, and PG&E warned that it might expand the precautionary outages on Tuesday to Sonoma, Napa and Lake counties if gusty winds and hot, dry weather continue.
Butte County is where a wildfire blamed on PG&E transmission lines killed 86 people last year and virtually leveled the town of Paradise.
Meanwhile, Southern California Edison warned it might shut off power to 41,000 customers due to forecasts calling for gusty Santa Ana winds.
The cuts could affect Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties.
Strong winds, low humidity, and warm temperatures were forecast in the region through Wednesday, and authorities issued an extreme fire danger warning for some areas.
Wind gusts could reach 50 mph (80 kph) in the northern Sierra and foothills, and between 30 to 40 mph (48 to 64 kph) in the Sacramento Valley and near the Pacific coast, said Eric Kurth, a forecaster with the National Weather Service.
(Agencies)
Comment