PG&E shuts off power in these Bay Area cities

The Brief

• A small area of Clayton was the first area PG&E turned off power in to prevent wildfires.

• Later in the day, areas near Livermore, Discovery Bay, and Lake delete Vale had their power shut off too.

• PG&E proactively shuts off its power lines after the utility paid millions in fines and was criminally convicted of causing deadly wildfires.

CLAYTON, Calif. – As the utility forewarned, Pacific Gas & Electric turned off power to a portion of customers, mostly in the East Bay, on Thursday in a preventive measure to reduce the risk of wildfires as high winds and dry conditions are expected through Saturday.

Public Safety Power Shutoffs in East Bay Thursday

What we know

Power was shut off in Clayton, a city in Contra Costa County at the base of Mount Diablo State Park, at 4:47 a.m. and PG&E told the 73 customers affected that it would be restored as soon as it is safe.

By noon, PG&E had also shut off power to areas near Livermore, Lake del Valle, Byron, Altamont Pass Road, Sycamore Grove Regional Park, an area along Interstate 580 west of Tracy, and homes south of Discovery Bay.

These outages are known as “public safety power shutoffs”.

“What that is is when we proactively de-energize customers because of the high risk of fire,” said PG&E spokesperson Jeff Smith.

PG&E warned earlier this week that customers in parts of Alameda, Contra Costa, Napa, Santa Clara and Sonoma counties may also be temporarily shut off during these high-risk fire conditions.

“Yeah, it’s definitely frustrating. But it’s really out of our hands,” said Melissa Morrissey of Clayton.

As of now, the areas identified for potential shutoffs are primarily in remote regions.

Thursday afternoon, a spokesperson for PG&E estimated about 650 customers were either shut off or planned to be shut off in Alameda County, about 275 in Contra Costa County, and about 50 in Santa Clara County.

To check for your neighborhood, PG&E has provided an outage map.

Firefighters say shutoffs a “necessary” tool

“I’m just used to it at this point,” said Morrissey. “One of our neighbors, she has a generator, so we hear hers kick on, and we just deal.”

PG&E says over the years, artificial intelligence has actually helped them reduce the number of customers out at any one time.

“Your viewers may recall that a few years ago, tens of thousands of customers would lose power,” said Smith. “Now we are able to be much more targeted.”

With all hands on deck Thursday, Alameda County firefighters say these public safety shutoffs are an important tool in preventing wildfires, especially in rural areas.

“Gives us a little bit of maybe a safety factor of those accidental starts that may come from electrical equipment,” said Kent Carlin, a battalion chief with Alameda County Fire.

“I think they’re a necessary component,” said Eric Truax, a crew superintendent for Alameda County Fire. “All it takes is one spark, one start at the wrong time, the wrong place, to really open things up.”

The backstory

PG&E has paid millions in fines and was criminally convicted of involuntary manslaughter stemming from at least 30 wildfires since 2017 that have wiped out thousands of homes and killed more than 100 people.

Some of those fires were caused by the utility’s power lines that sparked while electricity was running through them.