California Utilities Expand Power Shutdowns as Winds Rise

California utilities cut power to more than 62,000 customers across the state in an attempt to stop wildfires from starting as dry winds sweep the region.

PG&E Corp. cut off power to around 60,000 customers scattered across seven counties and may shut off more if conditions deteriorate, according to its website. Meanwhile, Southern California Edison Co. de-energized lines to nearly 2,400 customers in three counties.

Hot, dry conditions through the San Joaquin Valley have elevated the threat of wildfires spreading there if any ignite, the US Storm Prediction Center said Thursday. Across the larger region, there is a high-level, low-pressure trough across the Pacific Northwest that is raising the risk of dry winds, said Bryan Jackson, a forecaster with the US Weather Prediction Center.

Red flag fire warnings are up for parts of California’s Sierra Nevada range, as well as most of Nevada and large parts of Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. For most of California, conditions are elevated, but so far few red-flag warnings have been issued.

Humidities are as low as 4%, though they are forecast to recover to between 15% and 35% depending on elevation, the National Weather Service said in an advisory on Thursday evening. “Temperatures drop on Friday through the weekend but wind will remain an issue,” it said in a separate notice.

Over the last decade, power utilities in the western US and Hawaii have become frequent targets of lawsuits that blame their equipment for devastating fires, putting those companies in financial peril. Many of the companies, particularly in California, now cut power during periods of critical fire risk to reduce the chances of their electrical lines sparking a catastrophic fire.

Top photo: Transmission towers alongside a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. substation in Crockett, California. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg.