It’s now officially PG&E power outage season again as the impending heat dome rolls in, with public safety power shutoffs possible this week for eight NorCal counties, including Napa County and Solano County.

We’ve been warning that Northern California will likely see its biggest heat wave yet this year during this July 4th week. San Francisco is expected to see temperatures in the 80s and possibly up to 90 on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to KGO, though it’s expected to be well over 100 degrees in places like Napa, to the north, San Jose to the south, Vacaville to the east. Wind gusts are expected too, which raises the possibility of wildfires, so PG&E is warning of possible public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) for Tuesday and Wednesday, according to KPIX.

The Bay Area counties that might be affected by the shut-offs are Napa County and Solano County, PG&E currently says, though the warnings are also being issued for customers in Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Shasta, Tehama, and Yolo counties. Here in the Bay Area, the shut-offs may not be terribly widespread. KPIX notes that “about 96 customers in Solano County and 9 customers in Napa County were also told to prepare.”


And considering that wildfire season seems off to an early start this year, the National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning indicating increased wildfire risk for parts of Sonoma, Napa and Lake counties, as the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports. That warning is currently set for 11 pm Monday night through 5 pm Wednesday. Certainly the volume of amateurs blowing off fireworks this week adds to that risk.

"People tend to want to use fireworks," National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Merchant told KPIX. "Really, fireworks should not be used at all at this point because we are critically dry with the grass fuels so any fire that gets started has the chance to rapidly spread."

That advice may not be widely heeded. And PG&E says some shut-offs are “likely” Tuesday, though they have not yet issued the same warning for Wednesday.

“As of now, no PSPS has been called, and no customers have been notified, as the potential event is more than two days away,” PG&E spokesperson Karly Hernandez said to the Chronicle. “We are committed to keeping our communities informed and will provide updates as conditions evolve.”

You can sign up to get text alerts of possible shut-offs affecting your address or another address on the PG&E website. The utility also offers a shut-off area map with updated information about where anyone’s power may be out.

Related: Decades Late to the Game, PG&E Begins Putting Power Lines Underground [SFist]

Image: Jerry Wang via Unsplash