SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Thousands of people across five Bay Area counties could be impacted by a public safety power shutoff beginning Wednesday.
PG&E is warning customers in the hours ahead amid growing concern about upcoming weather conditions.
“We see lots of wind in the forecast as well as low humidity. We’re also seeing dry debris on the ground,” said PG&E spokesperson Tamar Sarkissian.
RELATED: What you can do right now to prepare for a PG&E power shut down
Up in the Berkeley Hills, many people told us they received one of PG&E’s warnings – including Jordan Brisk.
“Annoyed, to be perfectly honest,” he said.
Brisk tells me he lives just within the potential power shutoff area.
It’s a point of frustration for the customer who wishes PG&E would expedite their efforts to underground power lines.
“So we get cut off and literally the neighbor over my back fence has all their lights going and the music playing and we’re sitting there in the dark,” said Brisk.
While the Berkeley and nearby Oakland Hills are just two areas expecting power disruptions, the possibility carries more weight here says Henry DeNero.
DeNero runs the Berkeley FireSafe Council and says memories of the 1991 Oakland firestorm are still on the minds of many who live here.
“There’s an extremely high awareness of the catastrophic fire danger in Berkeley and Oakland. I would venture to say that the majority of citizens in these two cities know,” said DeNero.
PG&E says calling a PSPS remains a last resort for the company.
But given the forecasts coming in, they feel the decision is the right one.
“We would prefer not to call a PSPS. But if we feel like our customers’ safety is at risk, we will absolutely call it for the safety of our customers,” said Sarkissian.
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