SLO County won’t lose power in massive shutoff this weekend, PG&E says
San Luis Obispo County likely will not go dark as part of a massive power shutoff this weekend, PG&E says.
In a news release Friday afternoon, the utility company said it has notified approximately 850,000 customers across California that they could lose power starting Saturday evening, as the company monitors a “potentially powerful and widespread dry, hot and windy weather event” that could stretch into next week.
According to the release, customers across 36 California counties will be impacted by the shutoff. San Luis Obispo County and nearby Santa Barbara County were not among them.
PG&E spokesman Mark Mesesan told The Tribune via email that as of Friday “no areas within SLO County or the areas we service in northern Santa Barbara County are being considered for a PSPS (Public Safety Power Shutoff) event.”
Mesesan noted that weather conditions can quickly change, as well as the location of a potential PSPS.
Winds could be ‘most powerful in California in decades’
Predictive data models indicate the weather event could be “the most powerful in California in decades,” according to the news release.
Widespread dry northeast winds could reach 45 to 60 miles per hour and peak gusts of 60 to 70 mph in the higher elevations across the state.
“Winds of this magnitude pose a higher risk of damage and sparks on the electric system and rapid wildfire spread,” the release said. “The fire risk is even higher because vegetation on the ground has been dried out by recent wind events.”
After previously listing San Luis Obispo County at an “elevated risk” of a power shutoff starting Sunday, PG&E upped the risk level Friday for parts of the county to being under a “PSPS watch” in its seven-day weather forecast — though this does not mean the county will lose power.
In its weekly forecast, PG&E lists four stages of Public Safety Power Shutoff potential: Not Expected, Elevated, PSPS Watch and PSPS Warning.
The latter two levels are more serious and are only activated if there is a “reasonable chance of executing PSPS for public safety ... due to a combination of adverse weather and dry fuel conditions,” according to PG&E’s website.
According to the forecast, Zone 7 — which includes inland San Luis Obispo County as well as parts of Santa Barbara, Fresno, Monterey and Kern counties — is under a PSPS watch for Sunday, along with all but one other of PG&E’s nine statewide service zones.
Zone 6, which includes coastal San Luis Obispo County and parts of Monterey and Santa Barbara counties, remained at an “elevated” risk level.
The zones are just broad geographic regions, however, and whether or not customers within each of the zones are actually impacted by the power shutoff depends on a range of other factors, according to PG&E.
This is why risk appeared to go up for part of San Luis Obispo County, but PG&E is not planning a shutoff.
How to prepare for a power shut off
Though the county will likely not be impacted by the newest power shutoff, PG&E does encourage everyone to be prepared in the event that a PSPS will occur sometime in the future.
To be prepared, PG&E urges customers to update their contact information with the company to ensure you can be alerted to a potential shutoff. You can also sign up online to receive PSPS zip code alerts directly from PG&E.
The company also encourages people to:
Identify backup charging methods for phones and keep hard copies of emergency contacts, such as numbers of hospitals, fire departments, police, friends and relatives.
Build or restock your emergency kit with flashlights, fresh batteries, first-aid supplies and cash.
Keep in mind the needs of the elderly and young children and pets.
Know how to manually open garage doors.
Make sure smoke alarms and fire extinguishers are ready.
Keep emergency food and water on hand.
Use battery-operated flashlights, and not candles, due to the risk of fire.
Unplug or turn off all electric appliances to avoid overloading circuits and to prevent fire hazards when power is restored.
For more information on Public Safety Power Shutoffs, visit PG&E’s website at www.pge.com/en_US/safety/emergency-preparedness/natural-disaster/wildfires/public-safety-event.page.
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