Winter is nearly here, and PG&E meteorologists are predicting high winds in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys. PG&E is urging its customers and their families to stay safe this weekend as the winds pick up starting early Saturday morning through Sunday.
Customers are encouraged to prepare for outages that could occur as a result of windy weather conditions. PG&E crews are ready to work around the clock to restore service safely and as quickly as possible, should there be outages.
Windstorm Safety Tips:
a c Always treat low hanging and downed power lines as if they are energized and extremely dangerous. Keep yourself and others away from them. Be aware that trees, pools of water and other objects that may be in contact with power lines. If you see damaged power lines or electrical equipment, call 911 immediately and then notify PG&E at 1-800-743-5002.
a c During a power outage, use battery-operated flashlights, and not candles, due to the risk of fire. If you must use candles, please keep them away from drapes, lampshades and small children. Do not leave candles unattended.
a c Customers with generators should make sure they are properly installed by a licensed electrician in a well-ventilated area. Improperly installed generators pose a significant danger to crews working on power lines.
a c If you experience an outage, unplug or turn off all electrical appliances to avoid overloading circuits and to prevent fire hazards when power is restored. Simply leave a single lamp on to alert you when power returns. Turn your appliances back on one at a time when conditions return to normal.
a c Other tips can be found at pge.com/beprepared.
a c Customers can sign up for outage alerts or by checking the outage map on www.pge.com.
Technology at Work for You
The integration of advanced communications and control technologies throughout the electric grid continues to enhance the resiliency of the system and helps identify and restore power outages more quickly as we face stronger and more regular storms across Northern and Central California.
In the last five years, PG&E has invested $15 billion to enhance and harden its electric transmission and distribution system assets. A wide range of factors, from the operation of new distribution control centers to the building of a smarter energy infrastructure to advances in forecasting and emergency planning, all contributed to better reliability during storms.
PG&Ea s meteorology team has developed a Storm Outage Prediction Model that incorporates real-time weather forecasts, historic data and system knowledge to accurately show where and when storm impacts will be most severe. This model enables the company to pre-stage crews and equipment as storms approach to enable rapid response to outages.
For more information about outages and ways to prepare and stay safe during the storm, please visit www.pge.com.
