PG&E Power Shutoffs Hit 2.7M as California Wildfires Burn

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Mass power shutoffs by PG&E Corp. left more than 2.7 million Californians in the dark Sunday, the state’s largest deliberate blackout ever, as the bankrupt utility tries to keep its equipment from igniting wildfires during the strongest wind storm in years.

As of 9 a.m. local time, PG&E had shut off the lights to 918,000 homes and businesses in Northern California — including parts of Oakland and Berkeley, and almost all of affluent Marin County north of San Francisco. The city of San Francisco itself was spared. PG&E has said it expects the blackout to affect as many as 940,000 customers, almost a fifth of its base, as gusts topped 90 miles per hour in higher elevations.

The scope of the outage was unprecedented, with 38 of California’s 58 counties affected. The largest number of shutoffs were in Sonoma County, where the Kincade fire triggered a massive exodus Saturday and Sunday. About 180,000 residents fled their homes under mandatory evacuation orders as the fire marched southwest, and by morning, authorities were forced to close parts of Highway 101, a major traffic artery.

PG&E expected to begin restoring power Monday, when the winds are forecast to subside, but it first has to inspect every line of its equipment for damage. Meanwhile, another round of windy weather is forecast to begin Tuesday.

“What we find ourselves experiencing is a historic wind event,” Andy Vesey, head of the Pacific Gas & Electric utility unit, said at a press conference Saturday night. The shutoff is a “last resort to make sure that in these conditions our operations will not create a major public safety issue. That’s why we do it.”

In the suburbs of Marin County, street lights were out, gas stations were closed and stores were shuttered. People who charged their phones and computers before the outage hit woke to slow internet connections as they searched for updates on the blaze and blackouts. In Oakland, long stretches of banks, pharmacies, restaurants, shops and markets were dark. Police patrol cars parked at intersections to help navigate vehicles through darkened traffic lights.

It’s the third time this month that PG&E has resorted to mass blackouts to avoid wildfires. The San Francisco-based company has been taking more extreme measures since its equipment sparked blazes in 2017 and 2018, saddling it with an estimated $30 billion in liabilities and forcing it into bankruptcy. The shutoffs have triggered a debate over how far California is willing to go to prevent fires in an increasingly warm and dry climate. Despite the power cuts, blazes continue to burn.

Read More: The Cost of Doing Business in California Is One Blackout a Week

In Southern California, Edison International is warning that it may cut service to more than 162,000 customers. Sempra Energy’s San Diego Gas & Electric said it has no emergency shutoff plans at present.

Weather models show the wind storm could be the most powerful to hit California in years, according to PG&E.

Wildfires are already raging at both ends of California, prompting Governor Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency Friday. The Tick blaze near Los Angeles forced tens of thousands of evacuations. And north of San Francisco, the Kincade fire is still raging. It had burned more than 30,000 acres, destroyed at least 79 structures and was threatening another 31,175 buildings as of Sunday morning.

“I’ve heard some people express concerns that we’re evacuating too many people,” Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick said Sunday. “I think those concerns are not valid at this point.”

The Sonoma County fire was reported minutes after a PG&E transmission line in the area malfunctioned late Wednesday. Firefighters have not determined the cause of the blaze. PG&E’s shares plummeted 31% Friday to $5, a record low. Shares of Edison fell 8.5% as fires burned in its Southern California service territory.

All told, there’s about $12 billion worth of property within a mile of the active fires, said Chuck Watson, a disaster modeler with Evenki Research.

The prospect of more liabilities from wildfires is especially vexing for PG&E. Since filing for Chapter 11 in January, the judge overseeing the case has warned that another big blaze would upend the utility’s bankruptcy and potentially wipe out shareholders. Any claims from new fires sparked by PG&E would have to be paid out first — and in full — before those from previous blazes get a dime.

The winds are arriving at a precarious moment. California receives almost no rain during its summer, and a five-year drought earlier this decade killed millions of trees that can now easily ignite. Recent winds have dried out grasses and shrubs even further.

And the threat won’t end this weekend: Another front is expected to move in through Tuesday, bringing back strong, dry winds and once again raising the risk of wildfires spreading uncontrollably.

“We may have another weather system — not with this intensity– that may hit us early or middle of next week,” PG&E’s Vesey said.