California utility cuts customers’ power as precaution against wildfires
June 9, 2019 in News by RBN Staff
Source: www.detroitnews.com
The Associated Press
San Francisco – Pacific Gas & Electric implemented a controversial practice of cutting power to selected portions of Northern California on Saturday to guard against wildfires as the weather turned very windy, dry and hot.
Electricity was turned off around 6 a.m. to 1,600 customers in parts Napa, Solano and Yolo counties. Just as that shutdown was called off, the utility warned 27,000 customers in Butte, Yuba, Nevada, El Dorado and Placer counties that their power would be cut from 9 p.m. through Sunday morning.
The end of the earlier shutdown was announced around 4 p.m., and the utility said power would be restored in those areas as soon as crews finished checking lines for any weather-related damage.
Conditions ripe for fire – winds, low humidity, dry vegetation and heat – were expected to last into Sunday. The National Weather Service office reported a 71 mph gust on one peak in the region.
PG&E is under pressure to prevent fire starts after downed power lines and other company equipment have been blamed for conflagrations that began during so-called fire weather.
