Possible New PG&E Power Shutoff For Mother Lode
Sonora, CA – Pacific Gas And Electric (PG&E) is alerting the Mother Lode to a possible Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) beginning this weekend.
The utility has targeted Zones 5, which includes parts of Calaveras, Amador and Alpine counties, and also Zone 8 that along with those counties includes Tuolumne and Mariposa. Currently, the potential PSPS is targeted for Sunday, Oct. 25th through Tuesday, Oct. 27th as detailed in the chart below:
PG&E has the shutoff event listed as “Elevated,” which the company defines as “an upcoming event (a period of gusty winds, dry conditions, heightened risk) is being monitored for an increased potential of a PSPS event.”
PG&E details that its meteorologists are actively monitoring a current Diablo wind event as well as the potential for a significant offshore wind event to unfold across Northern California later this weekend and into early next week.
As reported here earlier, the National Weather Service has issued a “Fire Weather Watch” for the Mother Lode and the Stanislaus National Forest with winds in the Sierra Nevada at twenty to thirty-five mph and gusts ranging from forty to seventy mph.
The utility adds that the start of the event is more than three days away, so event details will likely change as forecast models evolve. It also notes that they will have more clarity on potential cities and counties impacted in the next 24-48 hours.
Clarke Broadcasting reached out to Tuolumne County Emergency Services Officials who relay that they have not yet received any directives from PG&E regarding a power shutoff.
