OAKLAND, Calif. – The planned power outages that Pacific Gas and Electric began overnight will last well into Thursday as the Diablo Wind event blows on. Many customers wonder, once the winds die down, why it takes so long to restore power when the winds are light and breezy.
Planned power outages are designed to stop wildfires, but one of the problems is, thousands of folks have to go through this and that could last for hours, if not days. The windy weather that led to planned outages, also took a racked-up slew of weather-caused outages in PG&E’s vast service area.
PG&E is reporting outages to 7,500 Bay Area customers due to issues like downed wires, on top of more than 16,000 in the region already affected by planned public safety power shutoffs.
“As forecasted, fierce winds entered PG&E’s service area last night with peak wind gusts observed at 88 mph in St. Helena in Napa County,” PG&E said in a release on Wednesday.…