SANTA CRUZ COUNTY — Thousands of people throughout Santa Cruz County could lose power this weekend if Pacific Gas and Electric Company conducts a Public Safety Power Shutoff in advance of predicted hot, windy weather.
Santa Cruz County spokesman Jason Hoppin said that 45,000 people could lose their power.
The potentially affected communities are Aptos, Ben Lomond, Brookdale, Capitola, Corralitos, Felton, Freedom, La Selva Beach, Mount Hermon, Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley and Soquel.
PG&E today said Friday that it continues to monitor a potentially powerful and widespread dry, hot and windy weather event expected to begin impacting the service area Saturday between 6 and 10 p.m. and lasting until mid-day Monday.
“This planned power safety shutoff will be bigger than the last one and, yes, it is significant,” Hoppin said. “It looks like the City of Watsonville will be okay. But part of Santa Cruz City will be affected. The Emeline campus clinic will stay open. We’re monitoring the situation and we’re staying in touch with PG&E to receive updates to get info out to the public.”
The NWS said a major “wind event” on the Central Coast, and elsewhere, will be the most powerful starting around 6 p.m. Saturday and continue through 2 p.m. Monday. Hoppin said that once PG&E does switch the power back on it could take up to 24 hours to restore power in some areas.
PG&E stated that, as this weather system sweeps from north to south over a period of two days, customers across Northern and Central California will feel the effects of hot, dry winds at different times, which means outage times will vary, as well.
The potential Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) is expected to affect approximately 850,000 customers and may impact portions of 36 counties on Saturday. Customers in the southernmost portion of PG&E’s service area in Kern County could have power shut off for safety on Sunday.
Predictive data models indicate the weather event could be the most powerful in California in decades, with widespread dry northeast winds between 45-60 miles per hour and peak gusts of 60-70 mph in the higher elevations.
Winds of this magnitude pose a higher risk of damage and sparks on the electric system and rapid wildfire spread, PG&E said.
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People can visit https://psps.ss.pge.com to type in their address to see if they are affected by the shutoff. For information, visit www.prepareforpowerdown.com.
