Pacific Gas & Electric Co. began public safety power shutoffs Wednesday in parts of Colusa and Glenn counties as a wind event and dry conditions raised fire danger across Northern California.
By 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, the Pge Outage had started in those two counties, even though PG&E had said shutoffs were required in several others as well. The utility said the targeted outages were expected to affect just under 5,000 customers.
PG&E said parts of Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Sutter, Tehama and Yolo counties were in line for shutoffs starting Wednesday. It also said parts of Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties, along with portions of the Cortina and Grindstone Rancherias, could be affected through Thursday.
The National Weather Service said a red flag warning for the northern Sacramento Valley was set to take effect at 11 a.m. Wednesday and remain in place through 5 p.m. Thursday. PG&E said it was watching a wind event expected to bring gusts of 30 to 45 mph, with peak gusts in North Bay mountains, including Mount St. Helena, reaching 50 to 60 mph.
The mismatch between the counties PG&E said were at risk and the places where shutoffs had actually begun underscored how quickly conditions were changing. The utility last used public safety power shutoffs in mid-May across a swath of Northern California, and the latest round could widen before the red flag warning ends Thursday evening.
