PG&E postpones power shutoff in East Bay, decision based on weather
By Allen Payton
According to Sumeet Singh, Vice President, PG&E Community Wildfire Safety Program, during a press conference, Wednesday evening, the planned power shutoff in the East Bay, including Contra Costa County, would be postponed based on changes in the weather pattern.
“As part of our second phase we are continuing to monitor weather in the East Bay, the South Bay and Santa Cruz areas,” he stated. “We will be making a decision about the timing of the deactivation later this evening…because there is a shift in the timing of the weather pattern. So, we may be able to delay the start of that deactivation.”
“It took take several days to restore power,” Singh also shared. (See the press conference on Twitter, here.)
Jeff Smith of PG&E confirmed at 9:10 PM Wednesday night, that the shutoff has been postponed, saying “the second phase of shutoffs has begun for customers in the Sierra Foothills and Bay Area. The East Bay, South Bay and Santa Cruz Counties are weather dependent. But they haven’t begun. We are continuing to monitor the weather and it will be completely dependent on the weather.”
Maps of the affected areas can be viewed on the following PG&E web pages: www.pge.com/eventmaps and www.pge.com/pspseventmaps.