PG&E Crews Continue to Restore Power as Winter Storm System Is Forecasted to Bring More Snow, Rain and Wind – Business Wire

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--After a week of on and off rains, a series of holiday winter storms are forecasted to intensify Sunday night into Monday. Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) electric and vegetation crews have restored service to thousands of customers following weather-related outages.

PG&E crews have restored electric service to nearly 50,000 customers since Christmas morning, with 15,000 customers still experiencing outages as of 5 p.m. on Sunday. Crews are also preparing to respond to any outages from the next pulse of the current storm system.

PG&E meteorologists are forecasting low snow levels tonight and tomorrow with heavier snow accumulations in the low to mid elevations. That snow accumulation could lead to increased power outages in some areas.

The wet and unsettled weather pattern looks to continue through Tuesday in certain areasthe National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning through Tuesday morning for the Sierra and northern mountainsbefore drier conditions possibly return, along with potentially very cold temperatures.

Throughout the last week weve been focused on staying ready and keeping the power on for our customers. This weekend, as our customers hopefully enjoy time with their families, the men and women of PG&E continue to work in challenging conditions to power our state, said Wade Smith, PG&Es Senior Vice President, Electric Operations.

Winter storms produce wet and windy conditions that can cause trees, limbs and other debris to fall into power lines, damage equipment and interrupt electric service. In some areas, ground already saturated by previous storms, along with drought-intensified conditions that weakened vegetation, could cause more trees to fall into equipment and cause power outages.

PG&Es meteorology team has developed a Storm Outage Prediction Model that incorporates real-time weather forecasts, historical data and system knowledge to accurately show where and when storm impacts will be most severe. This model enables the company to pre-stage crews and equipment as storms approach to enable rapid response to outages. Those activities are taking place now.

Fall and winter rain and snow in PG&Es service area have been a welcomed occurrence, especially in lieu of drought conditions in the state. Since the start of the weather year on Oct. 1, rain totals have been 206% of normal at the Oakland Airport. Statewide, Californias snowpack has grown from 19% of historic averages on Dec. 10 to 102% as of Dec. 23, according to the California Department of Water Resources.

Among other actions being taken by PG&E:

Keeping Customers Informed

PG&E knows how important it is to keep its customers informed. Customers can view real-time outage information on its website outage center and search by a specific address, by city or by county. This site has been updated to include in-language support for 16 languages.

Additionally, customers can sign up for outage notifications by text, email or phone. PG&E will let customers know the cause of an outage, when crews are on their way, the estimated restoration time, and when power is restored.

Storm Safety Tips

Other tips can be found at http://www.pge.com/beprepared.

About PG&E

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit pge.com and pge.com/news.

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PG&E Crews Continue to Restore Power as Winter Storm System Is Forecasted to Bring More Snow, Rain and Wind - Business Wire