Storm Update: Vast Majority of Customers Expected to Have Electric Service Restored by End of Day Today

UPDATE: March 24, 2:30 p.m.

As of 2:30 pm today, approximately 13,000 customers, mostly in Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Cruz counties, are without power due this week's wind and rainstorm. Approximately 4,300 PG&E personnel are in the field today, conducting inspections, making repairs, and completing restorations. Most customers who are currently out will be restored by end of day today, and essentially all customers impacted by this storm will be restored by end of day tomorrow.

Roughly 610,000 customers were impacted by this historic weather event that brought winds, rain and damage to PG&E equipment. Crews worked safely and quickly to restore service to 90 percent of those customers within 24 hours. PG&E is expecting a new storm system to develop next week and impact portions of the North Coast and far North. PG&E develops and adjusts its plans based on the latest weather models and will be prepared to respond to this latest significant storm system, projected to be the 15 since the beginning of the year.

We are sincerely grateful for our customers' patience through this event. This will be the final Currents update for this event, but customers can get updates on restoration for their service at PG&E's Outage Center.

UPDATE: March 24, 11:30 a.m.

PG&E crews continue to inspect the electric system for wind and debris-caused damage, and safely turn power back on for customers. Here are updates for the three most impacted counties in PG&E's service area:

Alameda County

• At Stages 4 and 5 of outage (see below)
• 2,306 customers out of service
• 50,235 customers' power restored
• 42 outages still require resolution
• Over 95% of customers have been restored from Tuesday's extreme weather event.

San Mateo County

• At Stages 4 and 5 of outage (see below)
• 1,682 customers out of service
• 37,301 customers' power restored
• 23 outages still require resolution
• Over 95% of customers have been restored from Tuesday's extreme weather event.

Santa Cruz County

• At Stages 3, 4 and 5 of outage (see below)
• 7,915 customers out of service
• 22,205 customers' power restored
• 103 outages still require resolution
• 74% of customers have been restored from Tuesday's extreme weather event. Based on current assessments, it is projected that the majority of customers will be restored by the end of the day.

Outage Stages

Stage 1 - Make Safe - Storm conditions are in progress and impacting your area. PG&E is prioritizing emergency calls from local Police and Fire Depts.

Stage 2- Gain Access - Storm conditions continue, and PG&E is isolating damaged areas and re-routing power to restore customers, as possible.

Stage 3 - Patrol and Assessments - Weather conditions have improved. PG&E is assessing damage that needs to be repaired before we can restore power.

Stage 4 - Repair - PG&E is making repairs to damaged equipment. When repairs are completed, we will be able to restore power.

Stage 5 - Restore and Notify - Power has been restored; you will receive a notification to confirm.

Below: A sample of widespread damage in Alameda, San Mateo and Santa Cruz Counties.

UPDATE: March 23, 6 p.m.

PG&E Incident Management Team Commander Sid Silva provides an update on Santa Cruz County, one of the hardest hit areas from Tuesday's powerful wind and rain storm. There were more than 300 locations of damage, especially in the heavily wooded and mountain areas. Despite the access challenges, PG&E crews are working safely and as quickly as possible to restore power for customers.

UPDATE: March 23, 2:30 p.m.

Here are updates for the six most impacted counties in PG&E's service area:

Alameda County

• At Stages 4 and 5 (see below)
• 4,761 Customers out of service from Tuesday's extreme weather
• 47,780 Customers Power Restored
• 90 Outages still require resolution
• 90% of customers have been restored from Tuesday's extreme weather event
• Urban and suburban areas are generally energized faster due to more power routing options

Contra Costa County

• At Stages 4 and 5 (see below)
• 2,030 Customers out of service from Tuesday's extreme weather
• 52,734 Customers Power Restored
• 56 Outages still require resolution
• 95% of customers have been restored from Tuesday's extreme weather event
• Urban and suburban areas are generally energized faster due to more power routing options

San Francisco County

• At Stages 4 and 5 (see below)
• 1,217 Customers out of service from Tuesday's extreme weather
• 34,239 Customers Power Restored
• 12 Outages still require resolution
• 95% of customers have been restored from Tuesday's extreme weather event
• Urban and suburban areas are generally energized faster due to more power routing options

San Mateo County

• At Stages 4 and 5 (see below)
• 3,020 Customers out of service from Tuesday's extreme weather
• 35,963 Customers Power Restored
• 51 Outages still require resolution
• 92% of customers have been restored from Tuesday's extreme weather event
• Urban and suburban areas are generally energized faster due to more power routing options

Santa Clara County

• At Stages 4 and 5 (see below)
• 572 Customers out of service from Tuesday's extreme weather
• 19,085 Customers Power Restored
• 28 Outages still require resolution
• 95% of customers have been restored from Tuesday's extreme weather event
• Urban and suburban areas are generally energized faster due to more power routing options

Santa Cruz County

• At Stages 2, 3 and 4 (see below)
• 11,281 Customers out of service from Tuesday's extreme weather
• 18,839 Customers Power Restored
• 113 Outages still require resolution
• 60% of customers have been restored from Tuesday's extreme weather event. Based on current assessments, it is projected that approximately 80% of customers will be restored by the end of today (March 23).
• In the Santa Cruz Mountain area, the trees down have been cleared across main roadways, however, they are still being cleared on smaller ones to allow PG&E access to those damage locations.
• Urban and suburban areas are generally energized faster due to more power routing options

Outage Stages

Stage 1 - Make Safe - Storm conditions are in progress and impacting your area. PG&E is prioritizing emergency calls from local Police and Fire Depts.

Stage 2- Gain Access - Storm conditions continue, and PG&E is isolating damaged areas and re-routing power to restore customers, as possible

Stage 3 - Patrol and Assessments - Weather conditions have improved. PG&E is assessing damage that needs to be repaired before we can restore power.

Stage 4 - Repair - PG&E is making repairs to damaged equipment. When repairs are completed, we will be able to restore power.

Stage 5 - Restore and Notify - Power has been restored; you will receive a notification to confirm

UPDATE: March 23, 10 a.m.

PG&E continues to make steady progress restoring power following an intense wind and rain storm battered Northern California.

Mid-morning, about 40,000 customers remain without power - including 23,000 in the Bay Area and about 14,000 along the Central Coast (majority of impacts in Santa Cruz, San Mateo and Alameda counties).

About 6,000 PG&E coworkers are supporting the company's response.

Since Feb. 21, PG&E has restored power to more than 3.2 million customers, 78% of them restored in under 12 hours. Longer-duration outages are typically the result of access challenges.

UPDATE: March 22, 10 p.m.

PG&E crews continue to make progress restoring customers from yesterday's intense storm. There are currently 52,116 customers out of power, with 35,723 of those based in the Bay Area, which was the region most impacted by the storm.

Have you ever wondered how PG&E restores power and why it takes the time it does? In the video below, PG&E's David McCulloch (Chief Marketing and Communications Officer) takes you on location to Woodside, where a large redwood tree took down a pole and multiple spans of wires, knocking out power to several hundred customers. David breaks down the process of restoration, explains why it takes time to safely restore power in significant weather events like those we are experiencing, and shares the steps that PG&E uses as we work to safely restore power.

Watch the video to learn more

UPDATE: March 22, 4 p.m.

Storm Damages and Outage Update

PG&E's Regional Vice President Aaron Johnson provides an update on PG&E's storm response in the Bay Area.

Currently there are 46,627 customers without power throughout the Bay Area region and a total of 80,517 customers without power service-area-wide. As of 4 p.m. today, crews have identified 126 damaged poles and 109 damaged transformers.

Outages by PG&E Division

UPDATE: March 22, 3 p.m.

Throughout the day, crews made considerable progress on damage assessments and restoration. Currently 85,425 customers are without power. The largest number of outages are within Alameda, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, and Contra Costa counties.

A five step process is followed to restore power after a storm.

UPDATE: March 22, 10:45 a.m.

PG&E crews are out in force conducting damage assessments from this week's storm, which continues to linger with rain over parts of PG&E's service area. Winds and soil instability toppled trees, caused severe erosion, and damage to electric equipment. Initial assessments as of this morning found damage to 144 poles and 73 transformers.

UPDATE: March 21, 9:30 p.m.

According to PG&E meteorologists, the system exceeded all expectations as the center of the low-pressure system tracked right through the Bay Area instead of glancing the coast as weather models predicted; this resulted in very strong wind gusts throughout the Bay Area.

Some maximum wind gusts included 89 mph in Santa Clara County, 81 mph in Alameda County, 77 mph in San Francisco and 75 mph in Contra Costa and Monterey counties. In addition, nearly 250 weather stations recorded peak wind gusts of 50 mph or higher.

Despite the weather, crews are making progress with restorations. Currently, 177,000 customers are without power.

UPDATE: March 21, 6:45 p.m.

PG&E crews are working safely and as quickly as possible to assess equipment damaged by the storm. They follow the five-step restoration process: Make safe, gain access, patrol, access/repair, notify.

As of 5:30 this evening, initial assessments found 42 damaged poles and 23 damaged transformers. That number is expected to increase as more assessments are conducted.

Currently, 244,000 customers are without power.

UPDATE: March 21, 2:30 p.m.

As the intense winter storm made landfall and moves across PG&E's service area, it is delivering strong winds and heavy rains, which have damaged trees and electric infrastructure. In some parts of the Bay Area, wind gusts were recorded reaching more than 80 mph.

Currently 147,000 customers are without power due to impacts from the storm.

For customers in need of emergency support resources, PG&E is partnering with the 211 Network, which can provide information on community services in your area. Customers can call 211 or search online at Your Local 211 | United Way 211. All queries are confidential.

The American Red Cross has opened shelters throughout California to provide emergency support including a safe place to sleep, food and water, and some first aid. A full list of services and locations can be found at: American Red Cross Shelter Information.

UPDATE: March 21, 10:30 a.m.

A strong weather system is currently moving into PG&E's service area. More than 5,727 personnel are mobilized and in position to respond to outages. Currently, 16,300 customers are without power due to the storm, most of whom are located in the Bay Area (Peninsula) and Central Coast regions.

The process to complete restoration follows five steps:

PG&E meteorologists say that a stronger weather system arrives Tuesday (March 21) and will linger into Wednesday resulting in breezy to locally gusty winds, widespread rain, isolated thunderstorms and heavy mountain snow. Southerly winds will develop along the Central Coast, South Bay and Peninsula tomorrow morning and spread inland across the central and southern interior during the day with gusts generally in the 30-40 mph range across lower elevations, while stronger winds are possible over elevated terrain. Elsewhere, gusts 25-35 mph are possible, while remaining generally below 25 mph in the far North.

Moderate to locally heavy precipitation is expected for most of the territory with light to locally moderate rain in Humboldt and the rain shadowed areas of the San Joaquin and northern Sacramento Valley. Rainfall amounts could reach one to two or more along the Central Coast and southern Sierra foothills, and a half inch to an inch-and-a-half across the Bay Area.

PG&E is prepared for this storm. PG&E has a plan and will implement that plan. In advance of the latest storm, PG&E vegetation management crews are out working to keep trees away from powerlines during the forecasted wet and windy weather to reduce the risk of outages caused by downed trees and other vegetation. The adverse weather can result in trees, limbs and other debris falling into powerlines, damaging equipment, and interrupting electric service.

Assume all down wires are energized and extremely dangerous. Don't touch or try to move the power line, keep children and animals away. Report downed lines to 911 and PG&E at 1-800-743-5002. What to do if you see a downed power line (pge.com)

Last week's storm was the 13th major storm event in our service area in the past 75 days. That storm was the most significant, in terms of customer impact, in the Bay Area since 1995.

The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for the San Joaquin River near Vernalis in San Joaquin County and provided the following cautions:

Motorists should not attempt to drive around barricades or drive cars through flooded areas.

Turn around, don`t drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles.

Caution is urged when walking near riverbanks.

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