(Bloomberg) -- California utilities said they may need to cut power to homes and businesses from San Francisco to Los Angeles starting later this week when gusty winds are expected to sweep across the Golden State.
PG&E Corp. said the possible intentional blackouts could begin as early as Thursday, when strong dry offshore winds are expected. The shutoffs could hit as many as 30 counties from the San Francisco Bay Area to Santa Barbara, according to a post on PG&E’s website.
PG&E said Tuesday its meteorologists are tracking a weather system that may bring winds of up to 70 miles per hour (113 kilometers per hour) across sections of its service territory. Dry winds raise the risk of wildfires raging out of control.
Southern California Edison, the primary utility for much of the southern part of the state, is mulling similar proactive measures. It said public safety shutoffs are being considered for six counties including Los Angeles on Thursday and Friday that would impact more than 91,000 homes and businesses.
Utilities across the western parts of the US now deploy the controversial practice of preemptively switching off power during dry and windy conditions to reduce the risk of power lines igniting wildfires. The move comes after utility equipment was blamed for causing multi-billion dollar wildfires in California, Oregon and Hawaii. PG&E has been using the preemptive power cuts for years but has been able to reduce the size and scale of its shutoffs by installing devices that can isolate outages and pinpoint the parts of the grid most vulnerable to wind damage.
The National Weather Service has posted red flag fire warnings across Bay Area, Sacramento Valley, and into Napa and Santa Rosa for later this week.
--With assistance from Brian K. Sullivan.
(Updates with number of possible customer shutoffs from Southern California Edison)
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