A Million Californians to Start Going Dark in Another Blackout

(Bloomberg) -- Hundreds of thousands of Californians will start going dark Wednesday afternoon as part of a mass blackout that utilities are carrying out to keep their power lines from sparking wildfires.

PG&E Corp. will start shutting off power to 179,000 homes and businesses in 17 northern and central California counties starting around 2 p.m. local time. Further south, Edison International’s Southern (NYSE:SO) California utility said it’s considering a similar shutoff that may affect 162,276 customers, and Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) is weighing cuts to 24,000. In all, more than 1 million people could be affected.

The situation was listed as critical across the state Wednesday with dry winds set to “ramp up considerably,” according to the U.S. Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. Thursday will be worse across Southern California where the risk is “extreme.” And while winds will likely die down this weekend, the situation could be repeated next week, especially in Northern California.

“The most volatile period for rapid wildfire growth/spread will be the first half” of Thursday, the agency said in a statement.

Early next week, the winds are expected to restrengthen after a relatively mundane weekend as a new front rushes in, according to Bob Oravec, a senior branch forecaster at the U.S. Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland

“The threat is going to be there,” Oravec said.

The threat of widespread shutoffs is hitting just two weeks after PG&E carried out the biggest planned blackout in California history, plunging about 2 million people into darkness, knocking out traffic lights and forcing businesses to shut across the Bay Area. Southern California Edison also cut power to customers, though on a much smaller scale.

The blackout threat has spurred a debat between California Governor Gavin Newsom and the utility. In a letter to Newsom last week, PG&E Chief Executive Officer Bill Johnson said California should discuss the idea of a state agency deciding when to carry out widespread shutoffs. Late Tuesday, Newsom shot down the idea, , saying transferring control of the decision-making would be a “bailout” for PG&E.

The PG&E blackout that struck earlier this month drew outrage from residents and state officials who accused the utility of cutting service to more customers than necessary and failing to properly communicate its plans. The debate has played out as the state could face weeks of similar decisions. The wildfire season can last until the winter brings rain and moisture to the region.

Sempra Energy’s San Diego Gas & Electric utility is warning nearly 24,000 customers could lose power in more remote areas.

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PG&E customers should be prepared this week to go dark for as long as 48 hours, Johnson has said. The utility will be looking at forecasts up to the “very minute” to try to limit the scope of this week’s blackout, PG&E’s senior director of emergency preparedness, Mark Quinlan, said Tuesday.

“If there are opportunities to sectionalize and limit the impact to customers, that’s what we’re going to do,” Quinlan said.

PG&E, the state’s biggest utility owner, was forced into bankruptcy after its equipment was identified as the cause of devastating blazes that included the Camp Fire in November 2018 that killed 86 people and destroyed an entire town. The company has been taking more extreme measures since those fires to keep its equipment from sparking more blazes.