Latest news with #PG&E
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Dry, windy weekend heightens California's wildfire risks, triggering power shutoffs for thousands
Thousands of Californians had electricity shut off Friday with even more possibly losing power over the weekend due to heightened wildfire risks from a weather system that is bringing dry, gusty winds across much of the state. Pacific Gas & Electric, the state's largest utility, turned off power to almost 7,000 customers in Central and Northern California on Friday "due to severe weather and wildfire risk," continuing shutoffs that began Thursday and were expected to continue through the weekend, PG&E wrote in an update. Southern California Edison, the largest power provider in the Southland, shut off power to more than a thousand customers Friday morning, mostly in Santa Barbara and Kern counties, but said more than 30,000 other customers could lose power through Sunday as winds remain a concern. 'With the windy conditions, still pretty low humidities, and the finer fuels being pretty dry, we're looking at elevated to brief critical fire conditions,' said Kristen Lund, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard, about the southern Santa Barbara County and surrounding areas. Though the conditions in Southern California don't meet the threshold to trigger a red flag warning, there will still be the potential for a fast-growing fire, she said. Hazardous winds peaking today and Saturday - strongest 2-9pm. Boaters should stay in safe harbor. Drivers, watch for road debris and blowing dust. Isolated power outages and downed trees possible. Elevated risk of grass fires - stay aware of your surroundings. #cawx — NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) June 20, 2025 Jeff Monford, a spokesperson for Edison, said the planned outages are "an essential tool for public safety." The so-called Public Safety Power Shutoffs are initiated by utilities to minimize potential fire sparks during high-risk conditions. The state's three biggest utilities — PG&E, SCE and San Diego Gas & Electric — began adopting power shutoffs as a strategy to reduce the risk of starting a fire about a decade ago after their equipment in the years prior started some of the deadliest and most destructive fires in modern history. SCE's equipment is part of the investigation into the start of the Eaton fire in January, that killed 18 people and destroyed thousands of homes and buildings in Altadena and surrounding communities. In Southern California, further outages were being considered for other areas of Santa Barbara County, as well as Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Kern, Inyo, Tulare and Mono counties, SCE said. PG&E said it was considering outages for almost 12,000 customers across 15 counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Colusa, Fresno, Glenn, Merced, Monterey, San Benito, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, Shasta, Stanislaus, Tehama and Trinity. A red flag warning, indicating critical fire weather conditions, had been issued in a few pockets of the state, and across wide swaths of the American West. In the Indian Wells valley area of the Mojave Desert, in parts of northern San Bernardino, Inyo and Kern counties, westward winds with gusts up to 60 mph were expected through early Saturday, the National Weather Service wrote in the red flag warning. The weather service warned that "any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly." In Lassen, Alpine and Mono counties, near the Nevada border, a red flag warning was also issued through midnight Friday. The critical warnings also included almost all of Nevada and Utah, northern Arizona and much of Colorado. "A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior," the weather service warned of these areas. "Avoid outdoor activities that can cause a spark near dry vegetation, such as yard work, target shooting, or campfires." Read more: Edison to bury more than 150 miles of power lines in wake of devastating L.A. County firestorms Although other areas hadn't yet been elevated to a red flag warning, the weather service had issued several other advisories about high wind and fire concerns, most lasting through Sunday. Across much of southern Santa Barbara County and into northern L.A. County, the weather service had issued a high wind alert, warning that "gusty northerly winds are expected ... for the next several nights." In southern Santa Barbara County, winds on Thursday evening hit 60 mph, but the weather service said "even stronger winds are expected Friday night." Lund said those conditions would create high fire risk. All of the Mojave Desert was under a wind advisory for most of the weekend. Much of the Sacramento Valley and the northern San Joaquin Valley had been put under a fire weather watch for Saturday and Sunday: "The combination of gusty winds and low humidity can cause fire to rapidly grow in size and intensity," that warning said. Parts of the Santa Barbara County coast and Santa Ynez mountains were also under a high wind watch Friday, with gusts up to 60 mph possible. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
4 hours ago
- Climate
- Los Angeles Times
Dry, windy weekend heightens California's wildfire risks, triggering power shutoffs for thousands
Thousands of Californians had electricity shut off Friday with even more possibly losing power over the weekend due to heightened wildfire risks from a weather system that is bringing dry, gusty winds across much of the state. Pacific Gas & Electric, the state's largest utility, turned off power to almost 7,000 customers in Central and Northern California on Friday 'due to severe weather and wildfire risk,' continuing shutoffs that began Thursday and were expected to continue through the weekend, PG&E wrote in an update. Southern California Edison, the largest power provider in the Southland, shut off power to more than a thousand customers Friday morning, mostly in Santa Barbara and Kern counties, but said more than 30,000 other customers could lose power through Sunday as winds remain a concern. 'With the windy conditions, still pretty low humidities, and the finer fuels being pretty dry, we're looking at elevated to brief critical fire conditions,' said Kristen Lund, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard, about the southern Santa Barbara County and surrounding areas. Though the conditions in Southern California don't meet the threshold to trigger a red flag warning, there will still be the potential for a fast-growing fire, she said. Jeff Monford, a spokesperson for Edison, said the planned outages are 'an essential tool for public safety.' The so-called Public Safety Power Shutoffs are initiated by utilities to minimize potential fire sparks during high-risk conditions. The state's three biggest utilities — PG&E, SCE and San Diego Gas & Electric — began adopting power shutoffs as a strategy to reduce the risk of starting a fire about a decade ago after their equipment in the years prior started some of the deadliest and most destructive fires in modern history. SCE's equipment is part of the investigation into the start of the Eaton fire in January, that killed 18 people and destroyed thousands of homes and buildings in Altadena and surrounding communities. In Southern California, further outages were being considered for other areas of Santa Barbara County, as well as Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Kern, Inyo, Tulare and Mono counties, SCE said. PG&E said it was considering outages for almost 12,000 customers across 15 counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Colusa, Fresno, Glenn, Merced, Monterey, San Benito, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, Shasta, Stanislaus, Tehama and Trinity. A red flag warning, indicating critical fire weather conditions, had been issued in a few pockets of the state, and across wide swaths of the American West. In the Indian Wells valley area of the Mojave Desert, in parts of northern San Bernardino, Inyo and Kern counties, westward winds with gusts up to 60 mph were expected through early Saturday, the National Weather Service wrote in the red flag warning. The weather service warned that 'any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly.' In Lassen, Alpine and Mono counties, near the Nevada border, a red flag warning was also issued through midnight Friday. The critical warnings also included almost all of Nevada and Utah, northern Arizona and much of Colorado. 'A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior,' the weather service warned of these areas. 'Avoid outdoor activities that can cause a spark near dry vegetation, such as yard work, target shooting, or campfires.' Although other areas hadn't yet been elevated to a red flag warning, the weather service had issued several other advisories about high wind and fire concerns, most lasting through Sunday. Across much of southern Santa Barbara County and into northern L.A. County, the weather service had issued a high wind alert, warning that 'gusty northerly winds are expected ... for the next several nights.' In southern Santa Barbara County, winds on Thursday evening hit 60 mph, but the weather service said 'even stronger winds are expected Friday night.' Lund said those conditions would create high fire risk. All of the Mojave Desert was under a wind advisory for most of the weekend. Much of the Sacramento Valley and the northern San Joaquin Valley had been put under a fire weather watch for Saturday and Sunday: 'The combination of gusty winds and low humidity can cause fire to rapidly grow in size and intensity,' that warning said. Parts of the Santa Barbara County coast and Santa Ynez mountains were also under a high wind watch Friday, with gusts up to 60 mph possible.
CBS News
a day ago
- Climate
- CBS News
Thousands of PG&E customers in San Joaquin County affected by power outages unrelated to safety shutoffs
TRACY — Tens of thousands of PG&E customers in San Joaquin County were without power Thursday evening due to an unplanned power outage unrelated to the Public Safety Power Shutoffs across the state. Around 36,000 customers in San Joaquin County were affected by an unplanned outage, according to the company's online outage map just before 6 p.m. The majority of the affected customers were in the cities of Tracy, Manteca, and Lathrop. PG&E said crews began "de-energizing" some customers in the county around 4:30 p.m. to rebalance the grid. This outage is not related to the Public Safety Power Shutoffs impacting the county and others across California through this weekend. PG&E said the outage was expected to last around 90 to 120 minutes.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
PG&E shuts off power in these Bay Area cities
The Brief A small area of Clayton was the first area PG&E turned off power in to prevent wildfires. Later in the day, areas near Livermore, Discovery Bay, and Lake delete Vale had their power shut off too. PG&E proactively shuts off its power lines after the utility paid millions in fines and was criminally convicted of causing deadly wildfires. CLAYTON, Calif. - As the utility forewarned, Pacific Gas & Electric turned off power to a portion of customers, mostly in the East Bay, on Thursday in a preventive measure to reduce the risk of wildfires as high winds and dry conditions are expected through Saturday. Power was shut off in Clayton, a city in Contra Costa County at the base of Mount Diablo State Park, at 4:47 a.m. and PG&E told the 73 customers affected that it would be restored as soon as it is safe. By noon, PG&E had also shut off power to areas near Livermore, Lake del Valle, Byron, Altamont Pass Road, Sycamore Grove Regional Park, an area along Interstate 580 west of Tracy, and homes south of Discovery Bay. PG&E warned earlier this week that customers in parts of Alameda, Contra Costa, Napa, Santa Clara and Sonoma counties may also be temporarily shut off during these high-risk fire conditions. As of now, the areas identified for potential shutoffs are primarily in remote regions. To check for your neighborhood, PG&E has provided an outage map. PG&E has paid millions in fines and was criminally convicted of involuntary manslaughter stemming from at least 30 wildfires since 2017 that have wiped out thousands of homes and killed more than 100 people. Some of those fires were caused by the utility's power lines that sparked while electricity was running through them.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Why PG&E (PCG) is a Top Growth Stock for the Long-Term
It doesn't matter your age or experience: taking full advantage of the stock market and investing with confidence are common goals for all investors. While you may have an investing style you rely on, finding great stocks is made easier with the Zacks Style Scores. These are complementary indicators that rate stocks based on value, growth, and/or momentum characteristics. Different than value or momentum investors, growth-oriented investors are concerned with a stock's future prospects, and the overall financial health and strength of a company. Thus, they'll want to focus on the Growth Style Score, which analyzes characteristics like projected and historical earnings, sales, and cash flow to find stocks that will see sustainable growth over time. San Francisco, CA-based PG&E Corporation is the parent holding company of California's largest regulated electric and gas utility, Pacific Gas and Electric Company. The company was incorporated in 1905. The utility generates revenues mainly through the sale and delivery of electricity and natural gas to customers. It engages in the business of electricity and natural gas distribution; electricity generation, procurement, and transmission; and natural gas procurement, transportation and storage. The utility also operates hydro-electric, nuclear and fossil fuel power plants. PCG boasts a Growth Style Score of B and VGM Score of A, and holds a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) rating. Its bottom-line is projected to rise 10.3% year-over-year for 2025, while Wall Street anticipates its top line to improve by 7.6%. One analyst revised their earnings estimate higher in the last 60 days for fiscal 2025, while the Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased $0 to $1.50 per share. PCG also boasts an average earnings surprise of 3.3%. PG&E is also cash rich. The company has generated cash flow growth of 6.1%, and is expected to report cash flow expansion of 12.1% in 2025. PCG should be on investors' short lists because of its impressive growth fundamentals, a good Zacks Rank, and strong Growth and VGM Style Scores. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PCG) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
