Category Archives: Pacific Gas and Electric Company

California: over 50,000 without power amid extreme wildfire risk

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PG&E began shutting off power Wednesday evening to customers in portions of 24 counties as a ‘last-resort option’ amid high fire risk

Thousands of people in northern California were without power on Thursday amid an autumn heatwave that brought another round of extreme wildfire danger.

The utility company Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) began shutting off power Wednesday evening to about 50,000 customers – about 100,000 people – in portions of 24 counties, mainly in the Sierra Nevada foothills and the San Francisco Bay Area. Another 20,000 people were expected to lose power later on Thursday.

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Hundreds of thousands brace for power shutoffs as California fires burn 2m acres

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Altogether, 721,000 people could be affected by these preventive measures, posing significant risks to the physically vulnerable

Hundreds of thousands of Californians are bracing for preventive power shutoffs, as wildfires have burned a record 2m acres across the state and the pandemic keeps many confined to their homes.

The first wave of power shutoffs started late Monday night, with Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) cutting power to 172,000 homes and businesses in 22 counties in northern California because of strong winds and dry conditions in the forecast. The utility also planned to shut off power to customers in Kern county, north of Los Angeles, starting Tuesday afternoon.

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California wildfires: violent winds fuel Kincade blaze as Getty fire burns in LA

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Two million still without power after weekend shutoffs as wine country fire scorches 66,000 acres

California firefighters raced against time on Monday to bring a raging wine country wildfire under control amid a lull in the weather, with warnings that the extreme winds fueling fires across the state could pick up again soon.

Violent winds of up to 100mph helped the Kincade fire, currently the largest burning in the state, to double in size over the weekend. The fire has scorched more than 66,000 acres, destroyed nearly 100 structures, and forced an unprecedented evacuation of more than 185,000 people in the area.

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