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| PG&E Power Outage: Live Updates as Californians Confront Blackout | |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| SAN FRANCISCO — Large areas of Northern California remained without power on Thursday as a major outage rocked the region for a second day. About 600,000 electricity customers were affected on Thursday morning after the state’s largest utility carried out the second phase of its intentional power cut. | |
| Pacific Gas & Electric said extreme winds overnight forced the additional shutdown, which the utility organized to prevent equipment from sparking fires. | Pacific Gas & Electric said extreme winds overnight forced the additional shutdown, which the utility organized to prevent equipment from sparking fires. |
| The second phase affected bedroom communities in the San Francisco Bay Area and added to the hundreds of thousands of customers who had lost power on Wednesday. As of Thursday morning, the company had restored power to 137,000 customers. But other customers may be without electricity for several more days, said Melissa Subbotin, a spokeswoman for the company. High winds in some areas were not forecast to subside until Friday, she said. | |
| A fire after midnight on Thursday in the town of Moraga, home to St. Mary’s College, prompted evacuations and burned around 50 acres but was brought under control before dawn. | |
| Pacific Gas & Electric says it will deploy a fleet of helicopters and more than 6,000 technicians to inspect the lines before they are brought back on, a process that could take up to five days. | Pacific Gas & Electric says it will deploy a fleet of helicopters and more than 6,000 technicians to inspect the lines before they are brought back on, a process that could take up to five days. |
| When Ben Faus went to sleep Wednesday night at his home in the foothills above the Monterey Bay, he knew there was a chance his power would go out. About 3 a.m., when he was jolted awake because his electric sleep apnea breathing machine stopped working, he knew the blackout had arrived. “All of a sudden, I was like, ‘I can’t breathe,’” he said. | |
| Mr. Faus, 74, is a retired pharmacist who has lived with his wife in the Central Coast town of Aptos for three decades. On a cold and clear Thursday morning, they were among tens of thousands of residents in Santa Cruz County, as well as large metro areas in San Jose and Oakland, who woke up to a blackout as part of PG&E’s fire-precaution plan. | |
| In a region where officials this week issued a red-flag fire warning for the Santa Cruz Mountains, Mr. Faus said he appreciated the effort to prevent sparks, but the utility was not doing enough to keep residents informed of when and how long power would be turned off. “I can see the reason they’re gun-shy, but I think they’re overdoing it,” Mr. Faus said. “I almost feel like they’re trying to show people just how vital they are.” | |
| Outside a Safeway grocery store just after dawn, dead traffic lights caused backups. Commuters toting travel mugs from homes without power begrudgingly got back in their cars without coffee when security guards informed them that the store would open late. | |
| While many residents said they had received emails or calls warning them that PG&E may cut power at some point this week, most said they had trouble getting access to online maps and were unaware after a day of delays on Wednesday if the shut-off would actually happen. | |
| Beth O’Shaughnessy and her family of four lost power at their Larkin Valley home with 13 horses, dogs and other pets around 11 p.m. on Wednesday night. Though the family has a generator for winter storms in the mountains, they had held off on stocking up food because of the uncertain timeline and long lines for fuel. “We weren’t sure if we would be able to get gas, so we didn’t want to get too much stuff,” she said. “One thing at a time, one meal. I’m kind of keeping that in the back of my head.” | |
| Gayle Clark, a 69-year-old Air Force veteran, watched the commotion outside the grocery store with interest as he walked his brown Doberman. Mr. Clark, an electrical contractor who said he has worked for utilities elsewhere in the state, has for the past five months lived in a trailer with a generator after he was unable to find a landlord willing to accept a subsidized housing voucher. For as long as California’s fire problem endures, he expects similar scenes in the future. “This isn’t the end of this,” Mr. Clark said. “This is the beginning.” | |
| Citing a weather forecast ideal for wildfires and staring down billions in potential liabilities from past blazes, PG&E decided sparks from its electrical equipment or a downed power line would pose a greater risk than grumbling customers. | Citing a weather forecast ideal for wildfires and staring down billions in potential liabilities from past blazes, PG&E decided sparks from its electrical equipment or a downed power line would pose a greater risk than grumbling customers. |
| But some residents and state officials felt the utility had overstepped. | But some residents and state officials felt the utility had overstepped. |
| State Senator Bill Dodd, a Democrat who represents northern counties of the Bay Area, said the situation was “beyond frustrating” in a statement on his website. “Public safety power shut-offs have a role to play when they’re needed to prevent massive wildfires,” he said. “However, many of my constituents are disturbed that the power was shut down before the winds started to pick up in the North Bay.” | State Senator Bill Dodd, a Democrat who represents northern counties of the Bay Area, said the situation was “beyond frustrating” in a statement on his website. “Public safety power shut-offs have a role to play when they’re needed to prevent massive wildfires,” he said. “However, many of my constituents are disturbed that the power was shut down before the winds started to pick up in the North Bay.” |
| “Sadly, poor performance by PG&E is par for the course, so it’s not surprising,” he added. | “Sadly, poor performance by PG&E is par for the course, so it’s not surprising,” he added. |
| One police department poked fun at the utility’s less-than-ideal rollout, which included problems with its website and early maps that left some residents confused about whether they would be affected. The department, in Pleasanton, Calif., posted a fake outage map on Facebook, with the entire state scribbled out in red. | One police department poked fun at the utility’s less-than-ideal rollout, which included problems with its website and early maps that left some residents confused about whether they would be affected. The department, in Pleasanton, Calif., posted a fake outage map on Facebook, with the entire state scribbled out in red. |
| “Remain calm,” the post read. “Use your cellphone light to search frantically for the one flashlight you think you have in the house. It will be dead of course. Search for batteries.” | “Remain calm,” the post read. “Use your cellphone light to search frantically for the one flashlight you think you have in the house. It will be dead of course. Search for batteries.” |
| Others did not appear to share their sense of humor. California Highway Patrol said that it was investigating a report that a PG&E vehicle had been shot at in Colusa County, north of Sacramento. | Others did not appear to share their sense of humor. California Highway Patrol said that it was investigating a report that a PG&E vehicle had been shot at in Colusa County, north of Sacramento. |
| Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that residents in the blackout areas had a right to be “outraged.” | Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that residents in the blackout areas had a right to be “outraged.” |
| But he stopped short of criticizing PG&E. | |
| “This is industry best practice,” he said of the decision to cut electricity. “This is just at a scale that we haven’t seen.” | “This is industry best practice,” he said of the decision to cut electricity. “This is just at a scale that we haven’t seen.” |
| The governor, who was speaking with reporters, said the state needed to do everything it could to avoid a recurrence of last year’s Camp Fire, which killed 86 people. | |
| There are still weeks left in fire season, he said. | There are still weeks left in fire season, he said. |
| “Remember, we are in the peak of it.” | “Remember, we are in the peak of it.” |
| Before the power went out on Wednesday, lines grew at gas stations across the Bay Area. And this being California, a queue had also formed at a row of Tesla superchargers in downtown Los Gatos. | Before the power went out on Wednesday, lines grew at gas stations across the Bay Area. And this being California, a queue had also formed at a row of Tesla superchargers in downtown Los Gatos. |
| “It’s the new world,” said Mira Wooten, who was charging her white, two-week-old Model 3. “Instead of lines for gas, there are lines for power.” | “It’s the new world,” said Mira Wooten, who was charging her white, two-week-old Model 3. “Instead of lines for gas, there are lines for power.” |
| Gregory Hansen, who charged his blue Tesla sedan at the same station, was in Silicon Valley on business. The previous night, he had charged his car at his home in the El Dorado Hills, east of Sacramento, right before the power went out. | |
| You might grow up used to modern conveniences, Mr. Hansen said, “then all of a sudden, it’s like, ‘Well, holy crap, I guess maybe we need a generator, or maybe we should start buying more freeze-dried food.’” | You might grow up used to modern conveniences, Mr. Hansen said, “then all of a sudden, it’s like, ‘Well, holy crap, I guess maybe we need a generator, or maybe we should start buying more freeze-dried food.’” |
| The harvest season is in full swing in the Sacramento Valley, but the power outage has idled some processing operations. | The harvest season is in full swing in the Sacramento Valley, but the power outage has idled some processing operations. |
| Mariani Nut Company, a family business that runs many of the nut processing facilities around the city of Winters, said that 75 percent of its processing capacity had been taken out by the shutdown. Matt Mariani, a partner in the business who manages retail sales and marketing, said about 100 employees were not working on Wednesday because of the outage. | Mariani Nut Company, a family business that runs many of the nut processing facilities around the city of Winters, said that 75 percent of its processing capacity had been taken out by the shutdown. Matt Mariani, a partner in the business who manages retail sales and marketing, said about 100 employees were not working on Wednesday because of the outage. |
| Mr. Mariani said the timing of the outages was disappointing, with the holiday season approaching and many large nut orders already requested. Many farmers have concerns about spoilage. | |
| “If they don’t get their products in and dried on time they could see some risks,” Mr. Mariani said. | “If they don’t get their products in and dried on time they could see some risks,” Mr. Mariani said. |
| Nearby, Elia Arce, the owner of the El Pueblo Meat Market and Taqueria, said she was forced to reduce her work force to three from 12 because of the blackouts. | Nearby, Elia Arce, the owner of the El Pueblo Meat Market and Taqueria, said she was forced to reduce her work force to three from 12 because of the blackouts. |
| She feared that meats, cheeses and other food items would spoil. “If this continues, we have to throw everything away,” Ms. Arce said. | She feared that meats, cheeses and other food items would spoil. “If this continues, we have to throw everything away,” Ms. Arce said. |
| Lauren Hepler contributed reporting from San Jose, Calif. and Scott Bransford from Winters, Calif. | Lauren Hepler contributed reporting from San Jose, Calif. and Scott Bransford from Winters, Calif. |