SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
About 70,000 Pacific Gas and Electric Company customers across parts of 29 California counties face possible power shutoffs this week.
PG&E said it planned to activate its Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) protocols on Wednesday through Saturday to reduce the chance of its equipment starting fires.
PG&E cited the elevated fire danger due to dry and gusty conditions, with the strongest winds expected in the Sierra, Southern Central Coast and parts of the North Bay and East Bay.
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WATCHING THE WIND
The north breeze will weaken tonight in the Valley.
But gusty EAST winds will pick up in the Sierra & Foothills early Thursday morning – late Friday. @PGE4Me cites the wind forecast & dry air/fuels as the reason for widespread PSPS outages. @kcranews pic.twitter.com/PXxabz5JlG
— Heather Waldman (@KCRAHeather) October 13, 2026
“We’re still closely tracking exactly where we expect the storm to impact the most,” said Paul Moreno a spokesperson for PG&E.
The utility said the shutoffs are a last resort designed to keep overhead power lines or equipment damaged by wind from sparking a wildfire.
PG&E says they try to give customers at least a two-day notice to help them prepare.
“Customers can do things like obtain dry ice to help keep their food and medicine cold, keep their electronic devices charged, and have generators on hand if needed,” said Moreno.
Earlier, PG&E said this planned outage would affect around 30,000 customers. It provided an update to include the number increased due to extremely dry vegetation and winds.
The outages could also impact 3,920 Medical Baseline customers and five tribal governments.
Originally, PG&E said about 3,000 customers who were impacted by an earlier PSPS event last weekend could be affected again. That number rose to 4,000. The company also said about 5,700 customers included in the original planned shutoffs have since been “de-scoped.”
PG&E’s update came around 1:05 p.m. Tuesday. It said the planned outage is about 12 hours away from the time of the update, but that conditions may change.
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