PG&E begins planned outages

Northern California blackouts designed to prevent wildfires

SAN FRANCISCO — The state’s largest utility began another widespread blackout Wednesday that could affect hundreds of thousands of people as dangerous fire weather returns to California.

The Santa Rosa Fire Department tweeted that shut-offs had started in the city and it was getting multiple reports of outages.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. previously said it would begin precautionary power shut-offs affecting nearly 180,000 homes and businesses in portions of 17 counties, mostly in the Sierra foothills and north of the San Francisco Bay Area.

The outages will last about 48 hours, the utility said.

Meanwhile, Southern California Edison said it could cut power Thursday to more than 308,000 customers in seven counties, and San Diego

Gas & Electric was warning of power shut-offs to about 24,000 customers.

The utilities say they’re concerned that winds forecast to top 60 mph could throw branches and debris into power lines or topple them, sparking wildfires.

PG&E cut power to more than 2 million people across the San Francisco Bay Area in rolling blackouts from Oct. 9-12, paralyzing parts of the region in what was the largest deliberate blackout to prevent wildfires in state history. Schools and universities canceled classes and many businesses were forced to close.

PG&E’S new warning just two weeks later prompted feelings of frustration and resignation among some residents and business owners and renewed rushes to stock up on batteries and other emergency supplies.

Love Birds Coffee & Tea in the old Gold Rush town of Placerville lost about $6,000 in the last outage — a huge chunk of change for a momand-pop business and a hit from which the store hasn’t yet recovered, owner Garrett Sanders said.

“Working this close to the last outage is going to be a true trial by fire,” he said.

This time, Sanders plans to brew coffee and stock up on handmade pastries before the shut-off, then sell them on the sidewalk.

“It’s going to be a sober morning for people waking up without their coffee,” he said. “We can’t do, like, all of our espressos and milk-based drinks but we’ll have coffee. It’ll be better than nothing.”

Sanders said he understands that the outages are designed to prevent wildfires.

“Of course, none of us wants the devastation” of a wildfire, Sanders said, “but I think the measures that PG&E is taking are to the ultimate extreme.”