PG&E Cuts Power Across California Counties as Wildfire Risk Climbs

AOL.com reported Sunday that Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has placed 15 Northern and Central California counties under notice for possible PG&E power shutoffs as dangerously dry and windy conditions raised the threat of fast-moving wildfires across the state’s Central Valley.

Red Flag Conditions Prompt Precautionary Action

The National Weather Service issued warnings covering the region from Redding south through Fresno to Bakersfield. Forecasters said north winds could gust to 50 mph. Relative humidity levels may fall as low as 7%, conditions that allow fires to ignite and spread with alarming speed. The threat window runs through Monday evening.

Counties placed on notice include Alameda, Colusa, Contra Costa, Fresno, Glenn, Lake, Merced, Napa, San Benito, San Joaquin, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Tehama and Yolo. Sacramento city residents face no risk of PG&E-ordered outages. The Sacramento Municipal Utility District operates its own largely urban grid and does not implement wildfire shutoffs.

A Utility With a Troubled Fire History

PG&E’s equipment has been linked to more than 30 wildfires since 2017. Those fires destroyed over 23,000 homes and businesses and killed more than 100 people. The devastating 2018 Camp Fire, which wiped out the town of Paradise, remains the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century.

The utility’s last public safety power shutoff event occurred in June 2025, when electricity was cut to more than 16,000 customers spanning 19 counties. If shutoffs proceed this weekend, they would mark the first such action of 2026.

Restoring power after an event is not immediate. Following a 2023 shutoff, crews spent significant time patrolling nearly 600 miles of transmission and distribution lines using helicopters, drones and ground teams before re-energizing any customers.

Underground Lines Central to Long-Term Strategy

PG&E has been burying electricity lines in fire-prone zones as its primary risk-reduction strategy. The utility says it had completed 1,000 miles of underground lines across 27 high-risk counties as of late 2025. That work, combined with stronger infrastructure and selective line removals, has cut wildfire ignition risk by roughly 8% system-wide since 2023.

The company expects to reach 1,600 miles of underground lines by year-end, targeting an 18% reduction in overall wildfire risk. During any outage period, PG&E opens community resource centers providing water, Wi-Fi, phone charging and basic supplies to affected residents.

Customers can check their address status and access a seven-day forecast through the utility’s outage lookup portal at pge.com/pspsupdates.