PG&E moves forward with power outages in rural Vacaville, Winters
(Graphic by Solano NewsNet)
The Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) moved forward with planned power outages impacting around 300 customers in rural Vacaville and Winters on Tuesday.
The outages, part of a planned safety power shutoff (PSPS) event, started around 1:30 a.m., or 30 minutes earlier than PG&E had warned when it announced the potential for power outages earlier in the week.
The service disruption is meant to prevent PG&E’s equipment from starting wildfires during a period of extreme heat, when extreme heat, low humidity and other weather conditions exacerbate the threat of such fires. Aging PG&E power lines and transformers have been linked to several destructive and deadly urban wildfires over the past decade, including the Camp Fire in 2018, which destroyed the town of Paradise and left more than 80 people dead.
On Monday, the utility posted a blog entry in which it warned more than 200 customers in Yolo County — mainly in Winters — and another 92 customers in rural Vacaville that their power may be disrupted due to extreme weather conditions. In rural Vacaville, the outages will affect residents and businesses along Pleasants Valley Road south of Highway 128 and east of the Napa County line.
The outages could last through Wednesday evening, when high temperatures will almost certainly exceed 100 degrees.
PG&E said it called, texted and emailed customers at least one day before the start of the PSPS event with a warning about planned power disruptions due to the weather emergency. It also notified some media partners about the disruption. Despite reaching out to PG&E several times over the past few years, the utility does not send press releases, warnings or updates to Solano NewsNet.
In a blog post on Monday, PG&E said it would assist affected residents and businesses by opening six community resource and cooling centers throughout Northern California. For Vacaville and Winters residents, the closest PG&E community center is at a casino in Middletown, a 90-minute drive from Solano and Yolo counties, according to a map reviewed by Solano NewsNet early Tuesday morning. It was not clear if PG&E intends to open additional community centers.
In Solano County, all libraries serve as cooling centers during normal business hours, and the City of Vacaville is opening a community resource center at 1000 Ulatis Drive that will remain open through Saturday, July 6. The Ulatis Community Center is open between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m., except on the Fourth of July, when it will open at noon.
In Winters, the Community Library and the Bobbie Greenwood Community Swim Center will operate as cooling centers, according to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. The Esparto Regional Branch Library and the Yolo Branch Library in Woodland will also operate as cooling centers.