PG&E has said it may cut power to 850,000 customers across California, including roughly 440,000 in the Bay Area, this weekend during a period of strong winds and high risk of fire danger.
Dry northeast winds blowing at 45-60 miles per hour with gusts of up to 70 mph at higher elevation from Saturday night to midday Monday have led to the utility to plan for another so-called Public Safety Power Shutoff.
"Winds of this magnitude pose a higher risk of damage and sparks on the electric system and rapid wildfire spread," the company said in a statement. "The fire risk is even higher because vegetation on the ground has been dried out by recent wind events."
Customers in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Solano counties are all on PG&E's watch list for possible blackouts beginning Saturday.
The Bay Area outages, affecting as few as 10,232 customers in Solano County and up to 92,877 in Sonoma County, could last days.
Across the state, 36 counties could experience shutoffs.
Pacific Gas & Electric has used the intentional outages several times this month.
It faced widespread criticism for its handling of widespread intentional outages. Critics said the PG&E poorly communicated with the public about which locations would be affected and how long the power would be cut.
