Latest PG&E news: Just 1,400 PG&E customers are still without power

A sign calling for PG&E to turn the power back on is seen on the side of the road during a statewide blackout in Calistoga, California, on October, 10, 2019. A sign calling for PG&E to turn the power back on is seen on the side of the road during a statewide blackout in Calistoga, California, on October, 10, 2019. Photo: JOSH EDELSON/AFP Via Getty Images Photo: JOSH EDELSON/AFP Via Getty Images Image 1 of / 77 Caption Close Latest PG&E news: Just 1,400 PG&E customers are still without power 1 / 77 Back to Gallery

LATEST, Oct. 31, 9 p.m.: Nearly all PG&E customers have power restored

PG&E announced Wednesday evening that just about 1,400 customers remain without power after this week's planned outages.

The utility said about 800 customers are in locations where wind-related damage to electric equipment will require repairs that will be made Friday.

UPDATE, Oct. 31, 7:20 p.m.: PG&E says it is nearing full restoration

PG&E announced Thursday night that it is nearing full restoration after another wave of planned outages that began on Oct. 29.

The utility said that as of 5 p.m., it restored power to 58,300 customers since the “all clear” was given Wednesday morning. Just 6,700 customers who lost power as part of the planned shut-offs are still without power, and 9,800 customers in Sonoma County are also without power as crews continue to battle the Kincade Fire.

The only counties still affected by the outages are Marin, Napa, Sierra and Sonoma.

UPDATE, Oct. 31, 12:30 p.m.: 36,745 PG&E customers are still without power

In the latest outage figures from PG&E, an estimated 36,745 PG&E customers do not have power, as of 10 a.m. Thursday.

PG&E separately noted that 1,857 customers were still without electricity in the Kincade Fire area, and that it will remain off "until it is safe to restore their service."

The utility company has meanwhile restored electricity to approximately 328,255 customers since the Oct. 29 deliberate power shut-offs. Kern County, one of the last counties to receive an "all clear" for inspections received that Thursday morning.

PG&E is continuing to inspect its equipment and restore power to the remaining customers; 143 incidents of damage were recorded by the company during its inspections. PG&E expects that the number will rise as more lines are looked at.

Gas to an estimated 25,000 customers has also been turned off in the Kincade Fire areas for safety reasons, according to PG&E, and the company stated that employees are "working to support the gas restoration process in Sonoma County." An estimated 2,350 customers had service restored in Cloverdale as of 10 a.m.

UPDATE, Oct. 31, 10:30 a.m.: Five fires over the weekend may have been started by PG&E equipment

The East Contra Costa County Fire Protection District has pointed to PG&E equipment as the source of the fires at Oakley and Bethel Island over the weekend, in what is considered to be the fourth and fifth fires started by the utility company in the past week.

"Upon conclusion of the fire investigation, the area of origin was identified under PG&E power lines with a video of the transformer casting sparks to the vegetation below," fire investigators stated Wednesday, according to KTVU.

PG&E filed reports with the California Public Utilities Commission over those two fires and and also nodded toward its possible involvement with three other blazes, the San Francisco Chronicle reported: two fires in Lafayette and a fire in Milpitas on Sunday.

To read more about the reports filed with the CPUC, head to the San Francisco Chronicle.

UPDATE, Oct. 30, 10 p.m.: 312,000 customers have power restored

PG&E announced Wednesday night that 53,000 customers (or 159,000 people when you consider three people per household on avearge) remain without power after this week's power shut-offs. So far, 312,000 customers have had their electricity restored.

PG&E has restored power to all customers in the following counties: Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Contra Costa, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Madera, Mariposa, Monterey, San Benito, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Siskiyou, Solano, Stanislaus, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne and Yolo.

On Thursday morning, PG&E will continue working to restore power to customers in the following counties: Calaveras, Colusa, El Dorado, Kern, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Sonoma and Yuba.

UPDATE Oct. 30, 6:15 p.m.: All of Kern County expected to get "all clear" tonight and pave way for power restoration

Kern County is one of the last counties to receive the "all clear" from PG&E, and officials say they expect to receive the "all clear" for all of Kern County by 11 p.m. due to improved weather conditions.

The northern portion of the shut-off zone in Kern County received an all clear for safety inspections as of 2:30 p.m., said Mark Quinlan, senior director of Emergency Preparedness and Response in a press conference Wednesday evening. Restoration of electricity in that part of the county have already begun, ahead of the expected time of Thursday morning.

Quinlan said PG&E expects to have 75 percent of impacted customers from the deliberate power shut-offs to be restored by the end of Wednesday, with the remaining 25 percent to have their power restoration by end of day Thursday.

Those areas impacted by the Kincade Fire will continue to have their gas cut off until Cal Fire says it is safe to reconnect those areas, said PG&E CEO and President Bill Johnson.

UPDATE, Oct. 30, 5:30 p.m.: PG&E continues to turn power back on for customers, new figures released

An estimated 168,500 PG&E customers are still without power as of 4 p.m. Wednesday, as a result of both Saturday's and Tuesday's electricity shut-offs.

The utility company stated that 196,500 customers have had their electricity restored since the "all clear" was given Wednesday morning. Twelve counties have had their electricity fully restored, according to PG&E, including Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Humboldt, Madera, Mariposa, Monterey, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Siskiyou counties.

The partial "all clear" for Kern County is still holding, and a full "all clear" is still expected for Thursday morning.

In its inspections, PG&E workers recorded 83 instances of weather damage to its power lines and equipment.

UPDATE: Oct. 30, 10:45 a.m.: Weather "all clear" given in all but one county

PG&E issued an "all clear" for all counties in its service area except Kern County late Wednesday morning. The "all clear" means the utility's meteorologists believe wind has subsided to a level safe enough for crews to begin inspecting power lines for damage.

Typically, power can be restored within 48 hours of the "all clear." But if damage is found to power lines or other PG&E infrastructure, localized outages could last several days. So far, the utility has found at least 55 incidents of equipment damage, a spokesperson told The Chronicle.

Kern County isn't expected to get the "all clear" until Thursday morning, due to "continued significant wind activity" in the area.

Currently, an estimated 365,000 customers are still without power from both Saturday and Tuesday's deliberate power shut-offs. That's an estimated 1.1 million people, when you consider each PG&E customer represents three people on average.

UPDATE: Oct. 30, 5:30 a.m.: PG&E cancels some Bay Area outages

Due to improving weather conditions, Pacific Gas and Electric early Wednesday canceled deliberate power shut-offs for customers in Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties that had been scheduled to start Tuesday.

This reduces the total scope of the Oct. 29 outage by 30,000 customers to about 510,000 customers in portions of 22 California counties. That's an estimated 1.53 million people when you consider each PG&E customer represents three people per household on average.

The National Weather Service cancelled a Wind Advisory as the gusty conditions below 2,500 feet have calmed. However, a Red Flag Warning, signaling critical fire weather, still remains in effect.

Some customers never had their power turned back on after the Oct. 26 shutoff and have been in the dark through both wind events.

The utility company estimated that three-quarters of the 973,000 customers impacted by the Oct. 26 outages had their electricity restored. PG&E is currently in the process of restoring power to the remaining blacked-out customers.

At 5 p.m. Tuesday, PG&E issued the weather “all-clear” for Butte, Plumas, Shasta, Tehama and Trinity counties affected by the Oct. 29 shutoff, meaning winds had calmed to a level considered safe to begin inspections and restorations to begin. Those inspections will continue after sunrise.

The utility company says they discovered 55 instances of wind-damaged equipment from the Oct. 26 event.

"These types of damages can lead to potential wildfire ignitions if power lines are not de-energized," a statement from PG&E said.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday that PG&E has agreed to give customers who have lost power in the massive blackouts "some credits" on their electricity bills.

"We made contact with PG&E and they will begin the process of crediting customers for this disruption. This is significant because utilities in the past have never credited customers for these disruptions. We called for rebates, and the CEO just communicated with our staff that they are going to support some credits," Newsom said at a press conference with fire officials in Los Angeles.

Newsom has repeatedly slammed the utility company in recent weeks for "corporate greed" and "decades of mismanagement." On Monday, the California Public Utilities Commission also started an investigation into PG&E's preventative power shut-off protocol.

Any specific details about how much credit affected customers might receive, or when, have yet to be announced. PG&E has not released a statement on any such plan.

Amy Graff is a digital editor for SFGATE. Email her at agraff@sfgate.com.

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