Marin spared in potential PG&E shutoff this week
County received warning that some areas could be affected
Marin residents breathed a sigh of relief Tuesday as the county was removed from the list of potential PG& E power shutoffs this week.
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. had warned Marin residents Monday that approximately 23,440 customers in the county could be affected by the outage because of extreme fire weather conditions expected Wednesday and Thursday.
Marin was among 25 counties that were put on notice of the potential power shutoff, which was expected to affect about 303,000 PG& E customers systemwide. In Marin, the areas most likely to be affected were San Rafael, Mill Valley, San Anselmo, Fairfax, Bolinas, Forest Knolls, Inverness, Lagunitas, Marshall, Muir Beach, Nicasio, Olema, Point Reyes Station, San Geronimo, Stinson Beach and Woodacre.
Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and San Mateo also were removed from consideration Tuesday as the weather outlook improved, the utility said Tuesday.
The National Weather Service on Monday issued a “red flag” warning for 4 a.m. Wednesday through 7 a.m. Thursday for Marin County. The weather forecast also includes warnings of strong north and northeast wind that is expected to develop late Tuesday through Thursday.
Peak gusts are expected to reach 55 mph.
A power shutdown this week would have been Marin’s third in the last two months. The first in early October affected about 10,000 Marin customers; the second, which lasted several days, affected virtually the entire county.
Many weren’t taking any chances as residents, merchants and public officials around Marin rolled up their sleeves early Tuesday, preparing for the possibility parts of the county would be plunged into darkness.
Public works staffers in Marin cities and the county department staged truck loads of traffic signs in antic
ipation that signals would be out of commission.
Andy Bachich, owner of Andy’s Local Market, said that when the last outage hit, he faced losing more than $400,000 in product and revenue, but he was able to store perishables in two refrigerated semi-truck beds, he said.
“This is just an absolute nightmare,” he said Tuesday morning. “The hardest part is that they don’t tell you when it’s going to hit, so I’m doing everything I can to get ready.”
His Loch Lomond shop is outfitted with a backup generator already. He was seeking a temporary generator to power his Sun Valley store, and has already acquired a small generator to keep his frozen foods cold at the Corte Madera market.
In Larkspur, the shopkeepers of Corbet’s Ace Hardware stocked up on batteries, lanterns, flashlights, ice coolers, ice packs, hand- crank- powered weather radios and other supplies that flew off the shelves, said Kathy Corbet, shop owner.
Goodman Building Supply store manager Cindy Smith said the Mill Valley store also stocked up on lanterns, gas cans, coolers, propane tanks, flashlights, batteries and generators, all of which sold out during the last outage.
The store ordered 14 generators; they are now down to four, she said.
“We usually don’t carry a lot of generators, but since the last power outage we ordered more,” she said. “Each generator costs about $799 to $999. They’re not cheap.”
Michael Bates, field supervisor with Floortex Design, walked away with one hoping to keep crews busy.
“We do construction, so if there is no power there is no work,” Bates said. “We have deadlines for projects, so we do our best to keep our guys working.”
Tiburon resident Jose Torneo navigated his way through dozens of people in the tight aisles at Goodman’s, buying lanterns and gas canisters.
He said he was not prepared during the last outage, so he bought a generator to keep the lights on in his home.
“It’s terrible,” he said. “The last time we didn’t have strong lanterns and we could not cook any food.”
Barbara Schrock walked out of Goodman’s with a handful of lanterns.
“I have a full tank of gas in my car,” said Schrock, who said she planned to check into a hotel to keep warm if a threatened outage dragged on.
“I don’t want the fires to harm people who have homes but we shouldn’t let PG&E get away with creating these situations,” she said.
At Mill Valley Market, shopkeepers were already prepared. Owner Doug Canepa said he rented a pair of generators over the summer in anticipation of the fire season so the store could remain open during outages.
“We were a beacon of light in a dark town,” Canepa said of the last outage in late October. “People appreciated us being here for the community.”