Northern California utility Pacific Gas & Electric will not conduct public safety power shutoffs Tuesday or Wednesday in the Bay Area amid an October heat wave that has temperatures reaching into the 90s and 100s, a spokesperson said Tuesday.
Initially, PG&E warned customers in 11 counties and two tribal areas, including Alameda and Contra Costa counties, that there could potentially be shutoffs on Monday and Tuesday due to a weather system from the Pacific Northwest that brought gusty winds and elevated fire danger, according to the PG&E Currents website.
Several of those areas, including Alameda and Contra Costa counties, were removed from the scope of the shutoffs Monday afternoon due to “improvement in weather forecast models,” according to PG&E Currents.
There are no plans for public safety power shutoffs Wednesday in the Bay Area either, PG&E spokesperson Tamar Sarkissian said Tuesday. Though temperatures remain high, the primary concern was wind.
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“We’ve been able to determine that specifically winds did not pan out the way that we were concerned they might, and that’s why we were able to remove them from scope,” Sarkissian added.
Sarkissian said that Monday was the day with the most concern, and that people are notified about a potential shutoff before a final decision is made. The consideration to implement planned outages takes into account temperatures, humidity level, dead and dry debris, winds and red flag warnings, Sarkissian said.
“It’s good news for the Bay Area,” Sarkissian said. “Fortunately, the weather cooperated.”
