Pacific Gas & Electric says it's going forward with the second planned power shut-off this week because of growing winds and high fire danger in the Bay Area and Northern California.
The utility had said blackouts would begin around 2 p.m. Saturday in parts of 36 counties. About 940,000 customers, or more than 2 million people, will experience the loss of electricity.
However, residents in Oakland's Montclair neighborhood told KCBS Radio that their homes had already gone dark before 11 a.m.
The outages were expected in parts Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano and Sonoma counties. Outages were not planned for San Francisco.
It's PG&E third preventative shut-off in as many weeks amid concern that gusty winds could knock down power lines and spark fires.
Winds picking up Saturday night could gust to more than 85 mph and make conditions extremely difficult for firefighters trying to tame the Kincade Fire, a huge blaze in wine country.
That fire had grown to 25,455 acres Saturday morning, leading authorities to order evacuations in Geyserville, Healdsburg and Windsor.
PG&E has admitted that some of its equipment failed at a time and location similar to when and where the Kincade Fire ignited.
