PG&E starts restoring power after fourth October shutdown

UPDATE: 11:30 A.M. WEDNESDAY, OCT.30: WIND DIES DOWN, PG&E ISSUES 'ALL CLEAR' PG&E was starting the mammoth task of restoring power Wednesday to more than half a million customers in Placer and other counties after issuing an "all clear" weather advisory - sending 7,400 workers into the field to turn the lights and refrigerators back on. PG&E said it does not expect another wind event for the next seven days. The "all-clear" finding covered nearly all areas impacted by Tuesday's power shutoff, which knocked power out to 516,000 customers in parts of 22 counties and included 400,000 customers from the Oct. 26 power shutoff. Both were blamed on strong wind warnings from the National Weather Service. The number of counties was decreased from original estimates, with Alameda, Contra Costa, Humboldt, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Mateo and Siskiyou counties removed from the shutoff scope because of lower-than-expected wind speeds, PG&E added. The corporation's senior vice president for electric operations addressed frustrations running high in areas like the Sierra foothills, where many customers have had power out since Saturday. "We very much appreciate our customers' patience as we work to restore electric service safely and as quickly as possible," PG&E executive Michael Lewis said. "We recognize the disruption and hardship these shutoffs cause, especially when they happen in quick succession due to the current weather pattern." Lewis added that PG&E only executes shutoffs as a way to prevent wildfires and protect public safety "given the severe winds and bone-dry conditions in more and more of our communities." As well as its own 6,300 workers and 46 helicopters, PG&E said it is utilizing about 1,100 electric workers from other utilities to help with inspections and repairs. UPDATE: 2:15 P.M. TUESDAY, OCT. 29: ROUND 4 - PG&E POWER OUTAGES START AGAIN In a fourth round of October outages, PG&E announced it is cutting power Tuesday to 25,430 customers in Placer County, including the Auburn area. At the same time, because of the threat of high wind through midday Wednesday, PG& E said it was also not re-energizing an unspecified number of customers in the county whose power was shut off because of high winds over the weekend and not restored. Across Northern California, the power company is implementing a public safety power shutoff to about 597,000 customers, reaching as far south as Kern County. About 400,000 customers who were originally affected by the Saturday shutoff remained without service Tuesday, PG&E said. By noon Tuesday, 573,000 customers had been restored from the Saturday shutoff, including areas of Placer, Nevada and El Dorado counties. UPDATE: 9:50 P.M. TUESDAY, OCT. 29: POWER BEING RESTORED BUT ANOTHER OUTAGE ON WAY? Much of the Auburn area was without power Saturday through Monday as part of a widespread Pacific Gas & Electric Co. outage spurred by strong winds and low humidity. And the power company was warning Tuesday that a fourth shutdown this month for many could be on the way. The shutdown that started Saturday left parts of the city of Auburn and North Auburn along the Highway 49 with their lights on while outlying, more rural areas were cut off from the electrical grid. Notably on Monday, parts of Downtown Auburn were part of the PG&E shutdown. The dull roar of generators showed some businesses finding ways to stay open, however. The threat of high winds was again being blamed by PG&E for the blackout. Wind gusts peaked at 102 mph Sunday in Sonoma County, while readings at the Auburn Municipal Airport in North Auburn during a 12-hour upswing from 4:15 a.m. Sunday to 4:45 p.m. showed steady winds speeds rising to 22 mph and gusts between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. reaching 30 mph to 33 mph. Auburn humidity levels - signaling a rise in fire danger when combined with high winds - dropped to 10 percent around 2:30 p.m. Sunday. The high temperature Sunday, according to the National Weather Service was 66 degrees. On Monday, PG&E had spared portions of the Auburn area from a shutdown but had turned the power off along most of the Interstate 80 corridor from Loomis to Alta. That area included Meadow Vista, Applegate, Colfax, Bowman east of Interstate 80, and Clipper Gap. A PG&E map Monday morning showed the Highway 49 corridor in Auburn and Highway 49 mostly with electricity from Interstate 80 to Dry Creek Road. On the El Dorado County side of the American River canyon, Auburn Lake Trails, Cool and Pilot Hill were without power Monday. Foresthill and Todd Valley were also out, as was Lake of the Pines and Alta Sierra in South Nevada County. Lincoln, Roseville and Rocklin were also out of the shutdown area, with Roseville on its own separate power supply grid. PG&E issued an "all clear" directive late Monday morning for crews to start restoring power to the more than 1 million customers affected but was also warning that a new round of outages was being considered. By Tuesday morning, PG&E mapping showed parts of Colfax out of power and areas northeast into the Sierra along Interstate 80 to Emigrant Gap still out. Cool and Auburn Lake Trails were in shutoff mode. So was a small portion of Bowman at the Foresthill exit. There were also pockets of outages Tuesday in the foothills on both sides of Highway 193 in Newcastle's Gold Hill area, portions of Loomis east of Interstate 80 and in Granite Bay near Folsom Lake. "PG&E is closely following a potentially strong, widespread dry offshore wind event on Tuesday through midday Wednesday for Northern California, that is significant in scope and could impact approximately 35 counties across the Northern and Southern Sierra, North Bay, Bay Area and Santa Cruz mountains, North Coast and Kern County," the power company said. PG&E added that it "will make every effort" to restore power to as many customers as possible who were without electricity due to the fire safety shutoff that started Saturday, but that some customers who were out of power could remain out throughout the duration of the next blackout. ORIGINAL REPORT: MORE PG&E OUTAGES? THE ANSWER IS BLOWIN' IN THE WIND Much of the Auburn area was without power Monday morning as part of a widespread Pacific Gas & Electric Co. outage spurred by strong winds and low humidity. And the power company was warning a fourth shutdown this month for many could be on the way. The shutdown that started Saturday left parts of the city of Auburn and North Auburn along the Highway 49 with their lights on while outlying, more rural areas were cut off from the electrical grid. Wind gusts peaked at 102 mph Sunday in Sonoma County, while readings at the Auburn Municipal Airport in North Auburn during a 12-hour upswing from 4:15 a.m. Sunday to 4:45 p.m. showed steady winds speeds rising to 22 mph and gusts between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. reaching 30 mph to 33 mph. Auburn humidity levels - signaling a rise in fire danger when combined with high winds - dropped to 10 percent around 2:30 p.m. Sunday. The high temperature Sunday, according to the National Weather Service was 66 degrees. On Monday, PG&E had spared portions of the Auburn area from a shutdown but had turned the power off along most of the Interstate 80 corridor from Loomis to Alta. That area included Meadow Vista, Applegate, Colfax, Bowman east of Interstate 80, and Clipper Gap. A PG&E map Monday morning showed the Highway 49 corridor in Auburn and Highway 49 mostly with electricity from Interstate 80 to Dry Creek Road. On the El Dorado County side of the American River canyon, Auburn Lake Trails, Cool and Pilot Hill were without power. Foresthill and Todd Valley were also out, as was Lake of the Pines and Alta Sierra in South Nevada County. Lincoln, Roseville and Rocklin were also out of the shutdown area, with Roseville on its own separate power supply grid. PG&E issued an "all clear" directive Monday morning for crews to start restoring power to the more than 1 million customers affected but was also warning that a new round of outages was being considered. "PG&E is closely following a potentially strong, widespread dry offshore wind event on Tuesday through midday Wednesday for Northern California, that is significant in scope and could impact approximately 35 counties across the Northern and Southern Sierra, North Bay, Bay Area and Santa Cruz mountains, North Coast and Kern County," the power company said. PG&E added that it "will make every effort" to restore power to as many customers as possible who were without electricity due to the fire safety shutoff that started Saturday, but that some customers who were out of power could remain out throughout the duration of the next blackout.