Approximately 3,538 customers in Los Altos and Los Altos Hills were impacted by last week’s PG&E Public Safety Power Shutoffs, the utility announced Monday.
The outages, meant to reduce wildfire risk, started locally for 21 residences at 11:27 p.m. Oct. 9, according to PG&E officials. The remaining 3,517 residences lost power at 11:50 p.m. the same day. The first group regained power at 11:09 a.m. Friday and the second regained it at 12:44 p.m. Thursday.
In total, 738,000 PG&E customers in 34 Northern and Central California counties across the state – including 38,983 in Santa Clara County – lost electricity.
Following the deadly Butte County Camp Fire last November, which was sparked by PG&E transmission lines, the utility has started implementing pre-emptive power shutoffs when three weather conditions coincide and create a heightened fire risk: temperatures climb above 80 degrees, humidity dips below 20% and winds blow stronger than 25 mph. Restoring electricity takes days, according to PG&E, because workers must first inspect transmission lines for damage.
PG&E intends to provide 48-hour notice of impending shutoffs by telephone call, email and text, and customers are encouraged to update their contact information by visiting bit.ly/2LWVkKo.
