Pacific Gas & Electric reported that the second phase of blackouts that was scheduled for noon on Wednesday was postponed until 8:00 pm due to changes in weather forecasts showing that wind gusts will arrive later east and south of the Bay. The power cuts are part of the fire prevention plan that the company launched since midnight on Tuesday.
The blackouts this midday will directly affect an additional 234,000 customers in Bay Area counties such as Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara, as well as others such as Alpine, Mariposa and San Joaquin. Although some of these regions have already seen the service interrupted, in most of the power outages will start at 8:00 pm. (See the map here)
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Some of these counties are sending detailed alerts to their residents about specific cities and the number of customers that will be affected by the interruption of electric service. Contra Costa authorities said that in that county a total of 51,000 customers (about 120,000 residents) will lose power at Bay Point, Canyon, El Sobrante, Kensington, Lafayette, Moraga, North Concord, Orinda, Pleasant Hill, Pinole, Pittsburg , Richmond, San Ramon and Walnut Creek.
In Alameda County, 32,613 customers are expected to be affected in the cities of Oakland, Castro Valley, Fremont, Union City, Berkeley, Hayward, San Leandro, Sunol, Pleasanton and Livermore. The County Office of Emergency Services reported that the greatest impact on electric service will occur between 8:00 pm on Wednesday and 3:00 am on Thursday. This is the map of affected areas:
The cities of San Mateo County that will begin to suffer blackouts from noon are Half Moon Bay, El Granada, Woodside, Moss Beach, Montara, Portola Valley, Pescadero, La Honda, Redwood City, San Gregorio, Loma Mar, San Mateo, Menlo Park, Emerald Hills, Pacifica and Princeton. In total, some 14,766 customers will be affected.
In San José, the authorities made their own blackout map available to the public because, since Tuesday, the PG&E website has operated intermittently. They added that, according to PG&E information, the area impacted by the blackouts will be East San Jose along the hills and in the Almaden Valley area, in the southern part of the city.
Throughout Santa Clara County, 38,213 customers are expected to suffer power outages in the cities of San Jose, Morgan Hill, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Redwood Estates, Milpitas, Sunnyvale, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Coyote, Gilroy , Mount Hamilton, Palo Alto and Holy City.
