PG&E crews remove power lines damaged by fire off Bille Road in Paradise, Calif., on Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018.
Jane Tyska | Digital First Media | Getty Images
Pacific Gas & Electric says it will go forward with another round of power shut-offs in 29 Northern California counties to prevent powerful winds from damaging equipment and sparking fires.
PG&E says the latest planned blackout will affect 605,000 customers — about 1.5 million people — starting early Tuesday.
It’s unclear how many of the more than 2 million still without power amid the current shut-off will have it restored before the next round of outages.
The announcement comes as crews battle a huge wildfire in Sonoma County wine country that has destroyed 96 buildings.
The California Public Utilities Commission said Monday it will review the rules allowing private utilities to turn off the power when conditions are ripe for fires. It also will look to prevent utilities from charging customers when the power is off and will convene experts to find grid improvements that might make blackouts less severe during the next fire season.
Some of the actions, including opening an investigation, require a formal vote of commissioners, which has not been scheduled. Commission president Marybel Batjer says California cannot continue to experience such widespread blackouts.
Millions faced blackouts this weekend while fires are raging on both ends of California, and more shutoffs are expected in the coming days.
