The lantern section is nearly empty at an ACE Hardware in Los Gatos, Calif., on Oct. 8, 2019, as shoppers prepare to lose power. Millions were poised to lose electricity throughout northern and central California after Pacific Gas & Electric Co. announced Tuesday it would shut off power in the largest preventive outage in state history to try to avert wildfires caused by faulty lines.

(Dai Sugano/San Jose Mercury News)