PG&E customers had their power temporarily put to a halt. Thousands of recipients in multiple counties had power shut off as part of a safety event during wildfires. This took place during the first few weeks of October and is still continuing throughout the month. As wildfires become more common, the power safety event will continue to stay in effect. 

PG&E is turning off the power on select days throughout the month. Customers won’t be absolutely without power, but they will see some common shutoffs throughout the season. The first shutoff that took place in the beginning of October affected multiple residents throughout Northern and Southern California. 

Some counties affected by this shutoff primarily range in those with large areas of field, brush, and trees, such as Placer County, El Dorado, Butte County, and Sonoma. All of these zones include multiple towns that contain over 17,000 customers of PG&E. This is to prevent any fires under such windy conditions. 

The power shut offs are completed in different phases throughout wildfire season. These phases are planned accordingly to the weather. In the next few weeks, there will be six different phases of power shut offs. Certain counties will see off and on power for the next few weeks depending on the severity of winds and dry areas. 

PG&E is extending the power outage areas as of October 24. These include roughly 179,000 customers within the area. New areas that are being affected include Mendocino County, San Mateo, and Tehama. PG&E has issued a further statement that is stating another power shutoff event will occur on October 26. This will mainly take effect in Northern and Central California due to extreme winds and dry weather. 

The safety shutoff event affected a total of two million people. 450,000 PG&E customers saw no power for up to two days. Within the next few weeks, 90,000 more customers are expected to lose power. The power zone of blackout has spread across to 940,000 customers across Central and Northern California. Over the next few days, the shut offs could affect a total of 2.5 million people. 

For counties without power as of October 26, they are expected to have power again after the second day period. Local areas such as Modesto and Tracy are expected to be affected during this period of time. Ripon and Manteca have not been said to be apart of the PG&E shut offs.