The shutoffs are underway: about 2,000 Sonoma County customers are without power as PG&E's fire-weather event runs toward Saturday
What was a map and a warning on Wednesday became an outage on Thursday: KION reported 87,475 customers without power statewide as of 10 a.m., PG&E said more shutoffs were possible Friday morning, and restoration will follow inspections once the wind eases.
SONOMA: The possible shutoff PG&E warned about on Wednesday is now a real one. PG&E began turning off power at about 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, and by 10 a.m. on Thursday an estimated 87,475 customers across 29 counties had lost power, KION Central Coast reported. In the Bay Area and North Bay, KION put the figures at about 4,700 customers in Alameda County, roughly 3,000 in Napa County and about 2,000 in Sonoma County, close to the 2,041-customer Sonoma County scope in the utility's published county table, which the Post reported yesterday.
KTVU, reporting the shutoff's first full day on Thursday, framed the event against the roughly 88,000 customers PG&E had warned could lose power, ahead of forecast Diablo and Mono winds expected to sweep the region through the weekend. Those offshore winds are downslope winds, blowing from the land toward the ocean, and they arrive dry and warm, which is the combination that heightens wildfire risk and drives the shutoff decision.
What Friday and Saturday hold
The event is not over. KION reported that PG&E said more shutoffs were possible on Friday morning, and that the latest event could continue through Saturday afternoon. Abridged, the PBS KVIE newsroom, reported the utility expects the dry, windy conditions to last through Saturday morning, and that the end of the weather does not mean power returns at once: PG&E crews first have to patrol the lines, inspect the equipment and fix whatever damage they find, and how long that takes will differ by location.
There was one early sign of the turn. KTVU reported Thursday that a first group of roughly 6,300 East Bay customers might have service back as soon as Friday afternoon, with line and equipment inspections planned from noon on Friday and power possibly restored by 4 p.m. if conditions allow. That timeline was given for the East Bay, not for Sonoma County, and PG&E directs every customer to check their own address and estimated restoration time on its PSPS website.
Why the utility says it acts, and where to get help
PG&E's stated reason is prevention: the utility says it de-energizes lines when conditions are primed for wildfire so that its equipment cannot start one. The utility's own releases put about 5,500 Medical Baseline customers inside the potential shutoff area, and say that when possible its employees will visit those customers in person if they do not confirm they received the safety notices, focusing on people who rely on electricity for life-sustaining equipment.
Help remains where it was yesterday, only now it is open. KION and Abridged both reported more than 40 Community Resource Centers opening across 25 counties, offering device charging, Wi-Fi, accessible restrooms, water, snacks and other supplies, with locations listed on the utility's outage website. Residents who need additional assistance, including transportation, food replacement or backup power, can dial 211 or visit 211.org, and customers can sign up for address alerts even if their name is not on the electricity account.
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