Shutoff scope grows in Sonoma County: 2,041 customers now in PG&E's planned outage area

SONOMA: The map moved again on Wednesday, and more of Sonoma County moved into it. PG&E said on October 14 that a changing statewide fire weather forecast had widened its planned Public Safety Power Shutoff to approximately 88,000 customers across 29 counties, with about 25,000 customers added to the scope and about 7,300 removed. For Sonoma County, the utility now puts the possible scope at 2,041 customers, including 79 on its Medical Baseline program, up from the 1,783 customers in the October 13 scope the Post reported yesterday.

The utility sent notifications on Wednesday morning to the additional customers brought into the event, and in a second announcement later on October 14 it said customers in scope have received multiple notices and will be notified again within four hours of their planned shutoff. KION Central Coast, reporting independently, traced the same climb: about 30,000 customers were being monitored on Monday, the figure rose to 70,000 on Tuesday, and it reached about 88,000 on Wednesday, with about 2,000 of those in Sonoma County. Much of the Wednesday expansion, KION reported, landed in Amador, Tuolumne and Madera counties.

Sarah Stierch, via Wikimedia Commons

What has not changed, and what residents should check

The Post reported on October 14, based on the City of Sonoma's October 13 notice, that neither the city nor the main Highway 12 corridor through Sonoma Valley was anticipated to be within the potential shutoff area, and that the areas identified sat primarily in higher-elevation locations surrounding the Valley. That was the city's reading of the October 13 map; the countywide scope has grown since, and PG&E directs every customer to check their own address on its PSPS updates page rather than rely on county totals or earlier maps.

The shutoff window runs from Wednesday evening, October 14, through Saturday afternoon, on the back of a dry offshore wind event the utility expects to last through Saturday morning. Bloomberg, in an October 15 report carried by the Insurance Journal, put the same statewide figure at as many as 88,000 PG&E customers across 29 counties including Napa and Sonoma.

Why the forecast forced the wider map

The National Weather Service warned that the combination of wind, warmth and falling humidity would keep the risk of large, fast-growing fires high over most of the area, with winds strong enough to topple trees and raise the risk of unintentional outages even outside the planned shutoff areas. PG&E's own forecasters said dead brush and grass have grown critically dry, nearing historical minimums in some areas.

Sarah Stierch, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

The widened event follows a separate shutoff days earlier that, according to KION, affected about 10,400 customers in Colusa, Glenn, Shasta, Tehama and Yolo counties. Statewide, about 5,500 Medical Baseline customers are in the current scope, and PG&E says that when possible its employees will visit Medical Baseline customers who do not confirm they received its safety notices, focusing on people who rely on electricity for life-sustaining equipment.

Help while the power is out

PG&E says it is planning to open more than 40 Community Resource Centers during the event, offering accessible restrooms, device charging, Wi-Fi, blankets, air conditioning, bottled water and snacks, with locations listed through its outage center. Customers who need additional support can contact 211 before, during or after an outage by calling 211, texting "PSPS" to 211 or visiting 211.org. The utility's preparation advice is the familiar list, issued while there is still time to use it: charge phones, medical equipment and other essential devices, keep flashlights and fresh batteries at hand instead of candles, stock drinking water, nonperishable food and necessary medications, and check on family members, friends and neighbors who may need help.