At daybreak Friday, PG&E will continue to restore electricity to hundreds of thousands of Northern and Central California customers who have been in the dark since earlier this week when the utility deliberately cut power in some areas because of high fire danger.
Of the some 738,000 customers left without power since as early as Wednesday morning, about 426,000 have had their power restored after dangerous gusts — some topping 70 mph — calmed Thursday. Roughly 312,000 customers remained in the dark as of late Thursday, PG&E said.
“We faced a choice here between hardship on everyone or safety, and we chose safety,” PG&E CEO and President Bill Johnson said Thursday. “I do apologize for the hardship this has caused, but I think we made the right call on safety.”
PG&E on Thursday afternoon said improving weather conditions allowed crews an “all clear” to perform safety inspections and begin power restoration efforts.
Crews can only carry out the inspections and restore power during daylight hours. More than 6,300 workers on the ground and 44 helicopters in the air will resume the inspection and restoration process Friday morning after the sun rises.
Officials late Thursday afternoon reported power was restored to most of San Jose and Morgan Hill areas impacted by the shutoffs. Several East Bay cities, including Lafayette, Moraga and Orinda, also reported PG&E crews were in the process of restoring power to the areas.
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said that the shutoffs affected about 20,000 customer accounts, amounting to roughly 60,000 residents.
The shutoffs also cost the city about $500,000 in extra staffing hours, fuel and more, Liccardo said.
“There’s no question that this cost should be borne by PG&E,” Liccardo said, adding that he is in discussions with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office about receiving compensation from the energy company.
Liccardo said the city experienced 68 stoplights without power Thursday morning, but that power had been restored to all but four by the evening.
He said the city was unsure when full power would be restored, but “we’ll continue to press on until everyone receives power again.”
Liccardo added that the city will continue to push for new legislation and initiatives, locally and in Sacramento, that will combat the effects of the ongoing climate crisis.
“We need to address the impacts of climate change, they’re quite real and we felt them today,” Liccardo said.
As of 9 p.m. Thursday, PG&E had restored power to 58% of the affected customers (737,808 impacted, 425,956 restored). Here’s a breakdown by county:
- Alameda: 78% restored
- Contra Costa: 85% restored
- Marin: 80% restored
- Napa: 59% restored
- San Mateo: 84% restored
- Santa Clara: 88% restored
- Santa Cruz: 64% restored
- Solano: 94% restored
- Sonoma: 46% restored
The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.
Photo Credit: NBC Bay Area
Source: NBC Bay Area
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