PG&E cut power to an estimated 87,475 Northern California customers over wildfire risk

Pacific Gas and Electric had cut power to an estimated 87,475 customers across 29 California counties as of 10 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15, in a Public Safety Power Shutoff meant to head off wildfire ignitions during a dry, windy stretch. The figure was nearly 30,000 higher than the day before, and the utility said the event could continue through Saturday afternoon.

Save more, waste less: The Cool Down’s newsletter sends smart, simple changes that help you and the planet in your everyday life.

Subscribe to The Cool Down →

We may earn a commission if you sign up.

Because the shutoff is deliberate, the customers affected were switched off by choice, not by storm damage, and the number moved up and down as forecasts and line conditions changed.

The Oct. 15 Count and How It Grew

CBS Sacramento reported that, as of 10 a.m. Thursday, an estimated 87,475 customers had lost power across 29 counties, with the shutoff beginning around 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 14. The scope grew from about 30,000 customers on Monday to 70,000 on Tuesday and roughly 88,000 on Wednesday, and PG&E said more shutoffs were possible Friday morning. The stated basis was that strong winds and dry conditions raise wildfire risk.

In its own announcement dated Oct. 14, PG&E said it was monitoring a potential dry offshore wind event running from Wednesday evening through Saturday morning, and that about 88,000 customers might be affected, including roughly 5,500 Medical Baseline customers and six tribal governments. The company said the scope shifted as conditions evolved, with about 25,000 customers added and about 7,300 removed. The release also notes that the National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning for parts of Kern County, mainly around Lebec, and a Fire Weather Watch from Bakersfield across southern areas from San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara, which PG&E characterized as a statewide fire weather event. That explains why a utility headquartered in Northern California was also planning outages as far south as San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.

Calaveras, San Luis Obispo and the Hardest-Hit Counties

The largest outages were in Calaveras County with 10,790 customers, San Luis Obispo County with 8,771, El Dorado County with 8,757, Madera County with 7,273 and Tuolumne County with 7,248, according to CBS Sacramento. Placer County had about 5,300, Alameda about 4,700, Amador about 4,600, Butte more than 3,000, Napa about 3,000, Sonoma about 2,000 and Contra Costa more than 1,600.

The 29 counties named in PG&E’s announcement are Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Kern, Lake, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Shasta, Sierra, Solano, Sonoma, Tehama, Tulare, Tuolumne, Yolo and Yuba. Only portions of many of these counties were affected, which explains why a figure near 87,000 spans such a large map.

The utility listed six tribes whose lands were in scope: Big Sandy Rancheria, Guidiville Rancheria, Mooretown Rancheria, North Fork Rancheria, the Pit River Tribes and Tuolumne Rancheria. A local station, KION, also reported the same 10 a.m. count and the Saturday afternoon end time.

Why PG&E Switches Power Off, and How It Restores It

PG&E describes a shutoff as a measure of last resort within its layered wildfire protection strategy, used when forecast high winds and dry conditions could cause energized lines to spark a fire. In its explanation of the practice, the company says the decision to turn off power for safety is not taken lightly, and that customers are alerted by text, email and automated phone call starting about two days before a potential shutoff. For this event, the company cited a dry offshore wind forecast for Oct. 14 through 17 and reported gusts of 67 mph.

Restoration follows weather and inspection. Once winds subside, crews patrol and inspect lines and equipment before re-energizing them, and in this event they found broken equipment and vegetation hazards such as branches and trees contacting lines. PG&E reports that crews restored power in stages and that by 7:20 p.m. on Oct. 17, virtually all affected customers had power back.

Compared With the 2019 Shutoffs

The October 2026 event is much smaller than PG&E’s late-October 2019 shutoffs, which CBS Sacramento reported affected about 970,000 customers across 37 counties on Oct. 26, 2019, with a further shutoff of about 605,000 customers announced days later. Those events are a benchmark for how large such an action can become when a severe wind event covers much of Northern California.

During the 2026 event, more than 40 Community Resource Centers opened to provide device charging, Wi-Fi, water and other supplies, and PG&E directs customers to its outage map to check an address and estimated restoration time. Customers who may need extra help can call 211 or text “PSPS” to 211, according to the company. CBS Sacramento’s report did not include wind speeds or restoration times for specific areas, so the outage map remained the way to see when an individual address was expected to come back, and the Oct. 15 total should be read as a snapshot of one morning, not a final count for the whole event.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

Save more, waste less: Subscribe to The Cool Down →

We may earn a commission if you sign up.