How to resolve AdBlock issue? Pacific Gas and Electric implemented another public safety power shutoff early Tuesday across 29 counties, including Lake, and impacting 597,000 customer accounts, in response to a red flag warning issued by the National Weather Service.
That was on the heels of a massive shutoff that impacted 37 counties and 960,000 customer accounts that began on Saturday and also included Lake County.
An estimated 400,000 customers account – including nearly all of those in Lake County – didn’t have their power restored from the weekend shutoff before the Tuesday shutoff began, PG&E said.
Most of Lake County has been without power since Saturday evening.
Local officials reported that about 7 percent of Lake County’s 37,441 customer accounts had power restored briefly on Tuesday morning before the next shutoff was implemented. The area of power restoration was reported to be in Clearlake.
The County Administrative Office on Tuesday also reported that gas supplies in Lake County are waning due to the combined duration of the shutoffs.
The situation on Tuesday prompted Sheriff Brian Martin to declare a state of emergency in Lake County due to “repeated, extended and continuing Public Safety Power Shutoffs.” The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to hold a special Thursday morning meeting to confirm his proclamation.
Lake County school districts reported that they will be closed on Wednesday, as power isn’t expected to be restored in time for classes to start.
Mendocino College and the Lake County Campus of Woodland Community College said they also have canceled Wednesday’s classes because of the shutoff.
Sheriff Martin said he’s received information from PG&E that the all-clear for the current wind event could come between 6 and 8 a.m. Wednesday.
That time frame was separately reported by PG&E Chief Meteorologist Scott Strenfel during a Tuesday evening briefing.
Strenfel said that, before giving the all-clear, PG&E will have to confirm weather conditions have improved by monitoring the 600 weather stations in the field.
Inspections and repair to any damaged areas would then need to be completed before power is restored. Company officials said the goal is to have power back on within 48 hours of the all-clear.
Mark Quinlan, PG&E’s senior director of emergency preparedness and response, said Tuesday was an “operationally complex day” as the company restored power to some areas and deenergized others.
At about 5 p.m. on Tuesday, the company gave the all-clear for parts of the northern Sacramento Valley; Quinlan said that all-clear had been anticipated at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Quinlan said Tuesday evening that PG&E’s inspections have identified 127 cases of damage so far from the weekend wind event that resulted in its own power shutoff. Damage included wires down, broken poles and vegetation into facilities.
Quinlan said 65 community resource centers are open in the current shutoff area, offering water, wifi and charging capabilities from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily during the shutoffs. Those have been visited by 24,000 customers so far.
The three community resource centers in Lake County are located at the Clearlake Senior Community Center, 3245 Bowers Ave.; Konocti Vista Casino, 2755 Mission Rancheria Road, Lakeport; and Upper Lake Unified School District, 725 Old Lucerne Road.
With cold weather coming on and many customers impacted because they use electric heat, Quinlan said there will be 200 blankets at each of the community resource centers for distribution on Wednesday.
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