PG&E Prepares for Next Wave of Powerful Winter Storms Set to Impact Northern and Central California

The series of early January winter storms has been one of the most impactful storms to affect the region over the past couple years and another wave of severe weather is expected to impact PG&E’s service area over the next week or two. 

To track PG&E’s restoration efforts during the historic winter storm, click here.

Check your County's Outage information here.

According to the National Weather Service and PG&E’s meteorology team, the next wave of storms will include rain, high winds, and thunderstorm activity, which will bring an increased threat of flooding, landslides, and damage to trees and power lines. As a result, power outages are likely. 

In preparation for the next series of storms, PG&E will add an additional 500 personnel to support our response and has begun pre-staging additional crews and equipment resources throughout its service area including regions expected to be most impacted, which include North Coast, South Bay and Central Coast. 

PG&E already has more than 4,000 dedicated personnel responding to the most recent storms, including contractor and mutual-aid resources from southern California, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado, Washington and Canada. Crews have been working around the clock on repairs and restoration.  

Compounded impacts from successive storms could impede access and cause safety risks for customers and PG&E crews. Please be prepared in the event that an outage occurs in your area. Safety tips can be found here: Safety and Preparedness, Storm Safety, and Safety Action Center.

 Staying Informed

Customers can view real-time outage information at PG&E’s online outage center and search by a specific address, city or county. This site has been updated to include support in 16 languages. 

 Additionally, customers can sign up for outage notifications by text, email, or phone. PG&E provides information as available to customers on the cause of an outage, when crews are on their way, the estimated restoration time and when power has been restored. 

Storm safety tips 

•      Never touch downed wires: If you see a downed power line, assume it is energized and extremely dangerous. Do not touch or try to move it—and keep children and animals away. Report downed power lines immediately by calling 9-1-1 and then PG&E at 1-800-743-5002. 

•      Use generators safely: Customers with standby electric generators should ensure they are properly installed by a licensed electrician in a well-ventilated area. Improperly installed generators pose a significant danger to customers, as well as crews working on powerlines. If using portable generators, be sure they are in a well-ventilated area. 

•      Use flashlights, not candles: During a power outage, use battery-operated flashlights and not candles, due to the risk of fire. And keep extra batteries on hand. If you must use candles, please keep them away from drapes, lampshades, animals and small children. Do not leave candles unattended. 

•      Have a backup phone: If you have a telephone system that requires electricity to work, such as a cordless phone or answering machine, plan to have a standard telephone or cellular phone ready as a backup. Having a portable charging device helps to keep your cell phone running. 

•      Have fresh drinking water and ice: Freeze plastic containers filled with water to make blocks of ice that can be placed in your refrigerator/freezer to prevent food spoilage.

•      Turn off appliances: 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. 

•      Safely clean up: After the storm has passed, be sure to safely clean up. Never touch downed wires and always call 8-1-1 or visit 811express.com at least two full business days before digging to have all underground utilities safely marked.  

Other tips can be found at: Safety and Preparedness, Storm Safety, and Safety Action Center

Those in need of emergency shelter or food can find resource information on 211-CA or by calling 2-1-1.