Monterey, Santa Cruz counties expected to have power restored Thursday night

CENTRAL COAST, Calif. (KION)

UPDATE 10/15/2020 6:30 p.m. Pacific Gas and Electric says Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties are part of the second phase of shutoffs, and the second phase is expected to have power restored by 10 p.m. Thursday.

According to PG&E, an "all clear" signal has been issued for parts of Monterey County due to improving conditions. According to PG&E's website, power has been restored to most customers in Monterey County.

In Santa Cruz County, officials said PG&E has started the restoration process, including inspections, and some customers could have powered restored this evening.

PG&E initially expected to shut off power to 53,000 customers, but it said that as of its update, only 32,000 customers are without power.

UPDATES 10/14/20 9:05 p.m. - Pacific Gas and Electric has started the latest round of "Public Safety Power Shutoffs," Thursday night, which includes portions of Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.

Right now, the outages in Santa Cruz county are on both sides of Highway 17 in the northern part of the county, including around Summit Road, Highway 35 and Bear Creek Road approaching Boulder Creek. There are also reported outages on the east side of Highway 9 around San Lorenzo Park.

In Monterey County, outages started along Highway 1 south of Garrapata Beach to around Dolan Road.

This is a developing story.

UPDATE 10/14/2020 4:50 p.m. Pacific Gas and Electric confirms that it will shut off power for 53,000 customers in parts of 24 counties as part of a Public Safety Power Shutoff, and Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties are included.

PG&E customers in portions of the Santa Cruz and Big Sur mountains- including the Summit area between Castle Rock State Park and the upper Corralitos area, the upper San Lorenzo Valley including parts of Boulder Creek and the Carmel Highlands south to Big Sur- can expect to lose power at 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Check here to see if your address is among those affected.

PG&E is establishing Community Resource Centers in the 24 affected areas, and the ones on the Central Coast include:

• Unitarian Universal Fellowship, 6401 Freedom Boulevard, Aptos
• St. Michael's Church, 13005 Pine Street, Boulder Creek
• Highlands Park, 8500 Highway 9, Ben Lomond
• Enterprise Technology Center, 100 Enterprise Way, Scotts Valley
• Point Sur Naval Facility, Big Sur
• Carmel parking lot, 9550 Carmel Valley Road, Carmel-by-the-Sea

Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties are part of the second of three phases of shutoffs. Everybody is expected to have power back by 10 p.m. Friday.

PG&E said it will notify affected customers by text message, email and phone call. The utility decided to go ahead with the shutoffs due to expected high winds, low humidity and dry vegetation.

PREVIOUS STORY: Pacific Gas and Electric announced that a Public Safety Power Shutoff watch issued for 24 California counties has been upgraded to a warning, and power shutoffs are now required.

Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties are two of the 24 counties that are part of the shutoff warning.

Santa Cruz County officials say it is likely that starting at 8 p.m. Wednesday, more than 5,000 residents will be impacted. Areas that may be affected include the Summit area between Castle Rock State Park and the upper Corralitos area and the upper San Lorenzo Valley including parts of Boulder Creek.

The Monterey County Office of Emergency Services said that the Carmel Highlands south to Big Sur are part of the warning. The shutoff would start at 8 p.m. Wednesday in that area too.

Full power is expected to be restored in both areas by 10 p.m. Friday.

PG&E is establishing Community Resource Centers in the 24 affected areas, and the ones on the Central Coast include:

• Unitarian Universal Fellowship, 6401 Freedom Boulevard, Aptos
• St. Michael's Church, 13005 Pine Street, Boulder Creek
• Highlands Park, 8500 Highway 9, Ben Lomond
• Enterprise Technology Center, 100 Enterprise Way, Scotts Valley
• Point Sur Naval Facility, Big Sur
• Carmel parking lot, 9550 Carmel Valley Road, Carmel-by-the-Sea

The centers will offer device charging, WiFi, ADA-accessible restrooms, medical equipment charging stations, water bottles and snacks. They will open from 5 to 10 p.m. Wednesday and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day after that until power is restored.

To see if your address is affected, visit the PG&E website here. Affected customers can also expect to be notified by phone, text and email.