Sonoma County Prepares to Notify Residents of Upcoming PG&E Power Shut-Off Due Extreme Weather Conditions

Sonoma County officials are prepared to notify residents who will likely be impacted by PG&E’s planned power shut-off this evening, due to extreme weather conditions. PG&E estimates that around 400 customers in Sonoma County will be impacted by a power shut-off. When PG&E does initiate the power shut-off, Sonoma County Emergency Services officials will send out a SoCoAlert to notify residents in advance of potential impacts and to alert them to possible critical communications outages.

These alerts are extreme weather hazard warnings, and are not evacuation warnings. Extreme weather conditions with high fire danger are forecasted for Sonoma County through Monday morning. The high fire danger conditions may cause PG&E to shut down power to protect public safety in certain neighborhoods or areas, according to PG&E’s CPUC approved Power Shutoff Policies and Procedures http://cpuc.ca.gov/uploadedFiles/CPUC_Public_Website/Content/News_Room/Public-Safety-Power-Shutoff-Policies-and-Procedures-September-2018.pdf.

Currently, the potential areas for shutdown include the unincorporated areas of northeastern and eastern Sonoma County.

Extreme weather conditions with high fire danger are forecasted for Sonoma County through Monday morning. The high fire danger conditions may cause PG&E to shut down power to protect public safety in certain neighborhoods or areas. Currently, the potential areas for shutdown include unincorporated areas in northeastern and eastern Sonoma County.

“We are being proactive and alerting residents who may lose their power temporarily,” stated Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, James Gore. “This is one of the ways we are coordinating with our utilities and partners to utilize all channels to help share public safety information.”

• Residents can learn if they are in a potentially impacted area by going to https://m.pge.com/#high-fire-threat-map and entering their address.
• PG&E has set-up a call center to provide more information:
  • English 1-877-660-6789
  • Chinese 1-800-893-9555
  • Spanish 1-800-660-6789
  • Vietnamese 1-800-298-8438
• Customers can visit pge.com/wildfiresafety to determine whether their home or business is served by an electric line that may be turned off for safety.
• For Sonoma County Emergency and Preparedness Information visit https://socoemergency.org/