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PG&E Alerts Public Of Possible PSPS Starting Wednesday In Mother Lode
Pacific Gas and Electric Company notified approximately 30,000 customers across 22 counties of potential Public Safety Power Shutoffs from Wednesday, October 14, through Saturday, October 17, to reduce wildfire risks.
Elevated fire danger prompted the utility to activate its Emergency Operations Center, as dry, gusty offshore winds create conditions where vegetation could ignite near energized powerlines. Low humidity levels generally at 30% and below compound the risk.
Butte County has the largest number of customers in scope at more than 8,300, while roughly 3,000 households impacted by last weekend's PSPS may face power interruptions again. Calaveras County follows with about 2,200 affected customers.
PG&E sent advance notifications to residents and plans to conduct in-person visits to approximately 2,000 Medical Baseline customers relying on electricity for critical life-sustaining equipment. Support is available through 211 and community resource centers.
New high-resolution weather modeling tools allow PG&E to implement a more surgical approach to scoping, potentially reducing outage scales compared to previous events. This precision positions the utility to minimize customer impact during future PSPS events.