Pacific Gas and Electric Co. told about 4,705 customers in Alameda County on Tuesday that it may cut their power for safety starting Wednesday evening, as a dry offshore wind event is forecast to sweep parts of the East Bay.
The possible Public Safety Power Shutoff covers about 70,000 customers in 29 counties, PG&E said in a release Tuesday afternoon. The utility expects the wind event to begin Wednesday evening, Oct. 14, and last into Saturday, Oct. 17, with power cuts forecast to run through Saturday afternoon.
Alameda County's estimated count is the largest of the Bay Area counties on the list. It includes 213 customers enrolled in PG&E's Medical Baseline program. Neighboring Contra Costa County has about 1,605 customers in the potential shutoff area. Santa Clara, San Mateo and San Francisco counties are not on the list.
PG&E did not say which Alameda County communities are included. Customers can check whether their address is being watched at pge.com/pspsupdates.
Why now
PG&E said offshore Diablo winds are expected to peak Thursday across the northern and central Sierra and into portions of the North and East Bay. Humidity is forecast in the single digits and teens across most areas, and the utility described vegetation as extremely dry.
The company said new higher-resolution wind models let it target shutoffs more narrowly than before. It also said conditions may change: at release time the earliest outages were about 12 hours away.
