Sonoma County braces for PG&E outages to prevent wildfires

A new PG&E wildfire prevention plan could leave large swaths of Sonoma County without electricity during dry and gusty weather this year, potentially leading to blackouts in urban areas if power lines serving rural regions are deemed too risky to operate.

If PG&E believes high winds and low humidity could lead to a fire in the Mayacamas Mountains, it could deactivate the high-load transmission lines linking The Geysers power plants to central Sonoma County under the new plan, leaving about 100,000 people without power indefinitely, said Chris Godley, the county’s emergency management director.

That’s just one potential outcome of PG&E’s expanded shut-off plan to avoid major wildfires, an approach the California Public Utilities Commission approved Thursday.

Previously, PG&E would only de-energize distribution lines, the smaller cables commonly seen along city streets that connect homes and businesses to the grid. The new plan would include shutting off larger transmission lines, which carry electricity across the state, such as the lines Cal Fire last month blamed for sparking the Camp fire, which killed 85 people and leveled the Northern California town of Paradise last fall.

The broadened use of the tactic likely will have new consequences for Sonoma County, even in urban areas that aren’t typically considered at high risk for wildfire.

“Not only is the scope of the potential impacts larger, but we’re also looking at more frequent potential shut-offs, and they may also extend in duration,” Godley said.

Proactive outages could affect more than 5 million PG&E customers, especially those living in areas deemed to be at high risk of wildfire, said Deanna Contreras, a spokeswoman for PG&E, Northern California’s major power provider. This includes about 70% to 80% of west Sonoma County, she said.

“We understand the impacts this could have on our customers,” Contreras said. “We remain committed to providing notice to customers in advance.”

PG&E cut power to more than 17,000 customers in Lake, Napa and Sonoma counties in the face of risky fire weather last October, restoring electricity to most after about a day. State and local officials and residents criticized the utility for poor communication after the October shut-off and voiced concern about impacts to vulnerable people who needed electricity for medical care.

Richard Skaff, a Guerneville-based disability rights advocate who testified Thursday before the public utilities commission, said he was concerned that seniors and people with disabilities would be disproportionately affected by PG&E’s power shut-off plan, especially those with lower, fixed incomes. He said he did not fundamentally oppose the tactic but called on PG&E to do more to mitigate the impact of its shut-offs to avoid affecting people who depend on electricity to survive.

“This is not an inconvenience we’re talking about,” he said. “This is a life-and-death issue.”

The increased likelihood of indefinite outages and potential for impacts to vulnerable populations are concerning, Godley said, but Sonoma County has a plan in place to deal with such situations.

Officials hope PG&E would provide at least an hour’s notice before shutting off power, which the county would use to inform affected residents and place additional police and fire patrols in the area.

The utility aims to notify customers up to 48 hours that a shut-off could be in the cards through automated calls, texts or emails, Contreras said. Customers can update their contact information and preferences at pge.com/mywildfirealerts.

Contreras did not dispute that shutting off power could lead to unintended consequences, and she encouraged customers to be prepared to preserve refrigerated medicine and manually open garage doors in case of an outage.

“We know how much our customers rely on electric service,” she said. “We know there are safety risks on both sides.”

You can reach Staff Writer Will Schmitt at 707-521-5207 or will.schmitt@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @wsreports.