PG&E expects electricity to be back Monday for customers impacted by North Bay Fires

PG&E logo courtesy of Twitter accout @PGE4Me

More than 3,000 Pacific Gas and Electric Company employees and mutual-aid partners are still working to restore electric and gas services to customers during the aftermath of the North Bay Fires.

PG&E expects to have service to nearly all electric customers who are able to receive it by Monday, following approval to energize.

As of Sunday evening, there are 17,000 customers who are capable of receiving gas service but do not have any gas service. PG&E anticipates to have gas restored to these 17,000 customers by Monday morning. Work to ensure safety of gas pipelines must be completed first. Once safety is established, the process requires lighting the pilot lights for individual customers.

As of Sunday evening, there are 21,300 electric customers without power in the fire-effected areas – down from 29,000 on Friday morning. Additionally, as of Saturday evening, there are 29,000 gas customers without service.

Restorations efforts will continue around the clock and customer and public safety is an absolute focus, PG&E said.

"PG&E applauds and thanks all the firefighters and first responders who continue to bravely battle these wildfires. And we have the deepest respect for the thousands of volunteers who are helping their neighbors get through this difficult time. In times of crisis, the strength of community shines brightly," said Nick Stavropoulos, PG&E president and chief operating officer. "Rest assured that the men and women of PG&E will be right beside our customers and our communities throughout this process."

PG&E has restored power to more than 92 percent of homes and businesses that lost power due to the wildfires, but fires in and around Sonoma caused power outages for 4,000 customers between between Friday night and Saturday morning.

On Monday, PG&E proactively turned off gas service to about 42,000 customers in the affected areas of Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties. Over the last couple days, PG&E restored gas service to approximately 21,000 customers.

Electric Restoration Process, provided by PG&E:

• Once crews have been given permission to enter an area by CalFIRE, PG&E crews begin the electric assess, repair and restoration process.

• Once safe, the first step is damage assessment. Typically, this occurs within 12 to 24 hours.

• PG&E workers will be on-site to make the area safe by isolating electrical hazards. The next steps are equipment repairs and coordinated restoration.

• Based on needed repairs and time to compete work, an estimated time for restoration is established and communicated to customers.

• Prior to safely re-energizing homes and businesses, PG&E will inspect adjacent facilities and ensure locations are safe to receive power.

• Where safe to do so and access is allowed, restoring service will typically take 48-72 hours depending on the extent of damage and complexity of the work.
• Repopulation decisions to areas or neighborhoods are made by local law enforcement.

Gas Restoration Process, provided by PG&E:
• Once crews have been given permission to enter an area by CalFIRE, PG&E crews begin the gas restoration process.

• Once PG&E gains access to homes and businesses, gas crews check the meter.  Then, PG&E works to identify structures that are safe to restore service and those that have sustained too much damage to safely restore service. Assessments begin immediately and typically occur within 24 hours of gaining access.

• Because customers' gas service was turned off, the pipeline system must be purged to remove any air and ensure that natural gas is safely delivered to every structure.

• Next, the system must be resupplied with gas and tested to make sure it is safe.

• PG&E gas workers visit every home or business where gas may be safely restored to turn the meter on, purge the pipe within the structure, check for leaks and ensure every pilot is relit for safe operation.

• Repopulation decisions to areas or neighborhoods are made by local law enforcement.