Ahead of a weeklong heat wave that will bake Sacramento and most of Northern California in sweltering temperatures, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is warning that critical fire danger may lead to its first public safety power shutoffs of the year in across eight counties to prevent the utility’s equipment from sparking wildfires.
On Sunday, officials of the Oakland-based company said its meteorologists were forecasting an “elevated” risk for shutoffs in parts of eight Northern California counties: Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Napa, Shasta, Solano, Tehama and Yolo. The power shutoffs are the first wildfire-safety blackouts undertaken this year by PG&E, which has come under consistent criticism for engineering power shutoffs in past years to ward off fires caused by its equipment.
The areas affected and the timing of the shutoffs correspond with the National Weather Service’s red flag warning , which was issued for a wide swath of Northern California between 11 p.m. Monday and 8 p.m. Tuesday. Those dangerous conditions produce an increased risk of damage to the electric system that could ignite fires fueled by dry vegetation, said PG&E spokeswoman Karly Hernandez.