Pacific Gas & Electric said it expects more planned power shutoffs this week as California faces continued wildfire risk. The utility is monitoring potential offshore winds from Wednesday through Saturday, and shutoffs could affect more than two dozen counties, mostly in northern and central California.
The warning follows a two-week heat wave that pushed demand to about 46,000 MW on Oct. 5. The California Independent System Operator issued Restricted Maintenance Operations notices on multiple days to protect generation and transmission availability, but the grid remained mostly stable, with no Flex Alerts or energy emergency alerts recorded.
San Diego Gas & Electric also took precautionary shutoffs earlier in October, cutting power to an area with 35,000 customers on Oct. 2, citing extreme heat, high winds and severe wildfire conditions. The utility gave an all-clear on Oct. 4 but said it would keep monitoring prolonged high temperatures that could cause localized outages.