Power shuts off in parts of Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara County
MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KION) Pacific Gas and Electric Company customers can expect power outages in Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz and Santa Clara County. Planned shutoffs started Monday morning at 7 a.m. and are expected to last until Tuesday to 10 p.m. However, due to strong winds, more areas might be impacted by outages.
What to do when your power is out
According to PG&E, winds are expected to reach 15-30 mph with widespread gusts 50 mph are possible across the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, surrounding foothills and over elevated terrain of the Bay Area and Central Coast. Red Flag Warnings have been issued across Central and Northern California because of the low humidity, strong winds, and dry fuel.
California's three largest power companies are coordinating to prepare for wildfire threats and extreme weather.
"Although a customer may not live or work in a high fire-threat area, their power may also be shut off if their community relies upon a line that passes through an area experiencing extreme fire danger conditions," San Benito Public Information Officer stated about the Public Safety Power Shutoff PSPS. "This means that any customer who receives electric service from PG&E should be prepared for a possible public safety power outage."
The areas impacted by the winds according to San Benito County include Santa Clara Valley, Southern Salinas Valley/Arroyo Seco and Lake San Antonio, Santa Lucia Mountains and Los Padres National Forest, Mountains of San Benito County and Interior Monterey County including Pinnacles National Park, Northern Salinas Valley/Hollister Valley and Carmel Vally, Northern Monterey Bay and Southern Monterey Bay and Big Sur Coast.
Among the areas in Monterey County areas expecting or currently experiencing shutoffs are Lockwood, Bradley, Pine Canyon and San Antonio. According to the State's Power Outage Dashboard, Monterey County has 1,059 customers without power as of Monday at 5:30 p.m., however, only 27 of them weren't planned. Over in San Benito County, 1,020 customers were affected, 997 in Santa Clara County and 4,781 in Santa Cruz County.
San Mateo County has already reported incidents where strong winds knocked over a power line and hit several cars and a house.
You can also visit the PG&E website and type in your address to find out about outages in your area here.
