SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Lights went out across large portions of Northern California on Wednesday, as the state’s largest utility began its second massive blackout in two weeks, citing the return of dangerous fire weather.
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said the rolling blackouts that initially stretched from the Sierra foothills to north of the San Francisco Bay Area would ultimately impact a half-million people – or nearly 180,000 customers – in 17 counties.
The outages will last about 48 hours, the utility said ,but its seven-day forecast shows an elevated likelihood of a shut-off across a much larger portion of Northern California for the weekend, when heavy winds are expected to return.
Southern California Edison said it could cut power Thursday to more than 308,000 customers in seven counties, and San Diego Gas & Electric was warning of power shutoffs to about 24,000 customers.
Two weeks ago, a PG&E blackout affected nearly 2 million people, prompting feelings of frustration and resignation among some residents and business owners and renewing rushes to stock up on batteries and other emergency supplies.