Damaged wooden power pole caused North Bay power outage: PG&E

HEALDSBURG, Calif. - PG&E says the cause of Wednesday's power outage that impacted some 6,000 customers in Healdsburg, Geyserville, and Cloverdale, was likely a damaged wooden power pole that appeared to have been hit by a vehicle.

The power pole in Cloverdale carried transmission lines to a substation that was in a high-risk fire area, but fortunately did not spark a fire.

"There were some low hanging lines but there was no downed lines, no spark, no fire department called, no ignitions of any sort," said Deanna Contreras, a PG&E spokeswoman.

The power outage happened around noontime, just as restaurants were preparing for their lunchtime crowds.

Nobuyuki Asahi, the owner of Asahi Sushi and Kitchen in downtown Healdsburg, says he was preparing to open when his restaurant lost power.

"All of a sudden, the power shut down almost two hours a little over two hours," said Asahi.

The timing was an unfortunate blow to Asahi's restaurant, forcing him to discard pricey raw fish that needed refrigeration.

Restaurants and other businesses were left with no connections for credit cards.

"I decided to close lunch business," said Asahi.

The outage comes just as a heat wave poses another threat to power supplies in the coming week.

PG&E is preparing extra equipment and staging extra crews for this hot weekend.

"We don't see the fire risk being so extreme that we'd need to shut off the power for safety," said Contreras.

California's Independent System Operator, or CAL-ISO, is warning that the triple-digit temperatures this holiday weekend, could push the limits of the power grid. Governor Gavin Newsom called for conservation Wednesday and issued an executive order that allows ships to continue running their engines for power instead of plugging into power sources on shore.

Newsom says drought has reduced energy from hydroelectric sources such as the power plant at the Oroville Dam, just as heat is increasing demand.

"Hydroelectricity is not as reliable as a consequence of this drought and the lower reservoirs across the western United States," said Gov. Newsom, "Mega drought means less megawatts."

Healdsburg Utility Director Terry Crowley says Healdsburg, like other cities, is bracing for the potential of rotating power outages this weekend if CAL-ISO sees the grid reaching its limits.

"This is really going to be a public health weekend for people who don't have air conditioning or are trying to limit their air conditioning," said Crowley, who added that people should make sure they have their mobile phones charged and close by in case there are any alerts of unplanned outages.

"The biggest need over the weekend is look at conservation between 4pm and 9pm," said Crowley. "Doing those early laundry chores or charging your vehicles early in the morning or early  afternoon."

In the long term, Crowley says the Healdsburg Utility hopes to build battery storage capacity to connect to the current system of floating solar panels that cover the municipal water treatment plant.

Governor Newsom says California has greatly increased its battery storage capacity from just 200 megawatts a few years ago, to more than 4,000 currently .

As for the power outage in the North Bay, PG&E says about 275 customers still do not have power and they aren't expected to get it back until 6 a.m. Thursday.