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   From: bankrupt-liars-and-damned-near-out-of-business@nytimes.com   
      
   SAN FRANCISCO – Pacific Gas & Electric Co. on Saturday began   
   cutting power to 940,000 customers – 90,000 more than initially   
   planned – in a desperate effort to prevent catastrophic   
   wildfires that could be fanned by exceptionally powerful winds.   
      
   The North Bay and northern Sierra foothills were among the first   
   areas to lose power about 5 p.m., said Mark Quinlan, the   
   utility’s incident commander for the public safety power   
   shutoff. Parts of the East Bay and South Bay were expected to   
   follow suit at 8 p.m. Quinlan said the utility plans to continue   
   shutting off the power in waves through Sunday evening,   
   ultimately affecting well over 2 million residents in 36   
   counties.   
      
   And possibly before all that power is restored, yet another   
   round of shutoffs could be activated. Andy Vesey, a PG&E   
   executive who oversees the electric operations, said a fourth   
   series of shutoffs could come as early as next week.   
      
   “We’re not out of the woods yet,” Vesey said.   
      
   PG&E said it expanded its map of affected customers in some   
   areas because of “historic wind event” expected to arrive   
   Saturday evening   
      
   #PSPS UPDATE: 2nd PSPS Impact Expands by 90k Customers   
   • Total projected impact now 940k in portions of 36 counties   
   • Power to be shutoff for safety in 6 zones starting @ approx   
   2PM today (weather dependent)   
   • Address look-up: https://t.co/AUFB81ZXtQ   
   pic.twitter.com/mBxz5dhc78   
      
   — PG&E (@PGE4Me) October 26, 2019   
      
   “This wind event is forecast to be the most serious weather   
   situation that Northern and Central California has experienced   
   in recent memory,” said Michael Lewis, PG&E’s senior vice   
   president of electric operations. “We would only take this   
   decision for one reason – to help reduce catastrophic wildfire   
   risk to our customers and communities. There is no compromising   
   the safety of our customers, which is our most important   
   responsibility.”   
      
   While the number of people projected to lose power across PG&E’s   
   coverage area has increased, the blackout area in many Bay Area   
   counties slightly shrunk in the utility’s latest estimates.   
      
   PG&E said Saturday that 57,002 customers in Alameda County,   
   48,058 in Contra Costa County, 57,218 in San Mateo County and   
   27,094 in Santa Clara County are expected to lose power.   
      
   That’s just over 9,000 fewer total customers across those four   
   counties than had been projected to see blackouts in plans   
   released Friday. Most of those getting a reprieve were in San   
   Mateo County, where the planned outage is set to affect 7,714   
   fewer customers.   
      
   Officials recommended residents use the address search tool on   
   the PG&E website to find out whether their homes will lose   
   electricity. That feature is more precise than the maps of   
   outage areas PG&E has produced.   
      
   Meanwhile, hundreds of people in parts of Piedmont and Oakland’s   
   Montclair district who were already bracing for the shutoff were   
   surprised to find their power go out briefly late Saturday   
   morning, hours before what they expected. But that outage was   
   not connected to the planned power shutoff, according to PG&E.   
      
   A city of Oakland spokesman said officials were monitoring   
   reports of isolated outages, which also included flashing red   
   lights on 35th Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard.   
      
   The utility’s updated plans called for the shutoffs to roll out   
   across the state starting at 5 p.m. Saturday in 12 counties   
   encompassing the Sierra Nevada and parts of the Central Valley,   
   as well as North Bay counties including Marin, Napa, Solano and   
   Sonoma.   
      
   Customers Alameda, Contra Costa, Monterey, San Benito, San   
   Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties were told they would   
   lose power starting at 8 p.m.   
      
   The utility was also poised to cut power on the North Coast at 9   
   p.m. and in the southern Sierra foothills at midnight.   
      
   A final phase, starting at 9 p.m. Sunday, will affect fewer than   
   1,000 customers in Kern County, although the utility said it was   
   also eyeing potential shutoffs in Madera and Fresno counties.   
      
   Although PG&E faced withering criticism from customers and   
   public officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, for a similar   
   shutoff across much of the Bay Area and Northern California less   
   than three weeks ago, this outage is set to be even bigger.   
      
   Weather models indicate the combination of wind and heat this   
   weekend could be the most powerful in California in years, with   
      
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