Thousands Still Without Power After PG&E Preemptive Move
EL DORADO COUNTY (CBS13) — Tens of thousands of people were without power and many still waiting for it to be restored.
PG&E cut the electricity to customers in the Sierra foothills and across 12 counties over fears that high winds could fuel a firestorm.
In this case, about 60,000 people were left without power starting on Sunday night and stretching into Monday, forcing the closure of schools in El Dorado County.
RELATED: Residents Say PG&E Warnings Weren't Enough Before Utility Cut Power
By Monday at 9:30 p.m. the company said it had restored power to 38,000 customers affected, well on its way to meeting its goal of 70 percent, or 41,300, by midnight.
Before PG&E can turn the power back on, they must make sure each power line is safe from starting a fire, which has taken most of the day.
Vern Maceiko of Pollock Pines spent the daylight hours cleaning up from last night's wind storm.
RELATED: PG&E Plans To Have 70 Percent Of Power Back By Midnight After Shutting Down For High Winds
"I was never really worried about it until the King Fire which we could see just a few miles away," he said.
He along with tens of thousands of homeowners received a warning from PG&E to cut power Sunday night.
"When it burns down 9,000 homes in a night, I guess they got to do something about it," he said.
It's an unprecedented move, officials say, to prevent catastrophic wildfires like we saw last October.
"Communication for residents here, is not there," said Michelle Piazza of Pollock Pines.
She said not knowing when the power will be restored that's most frustrating and PG&E should be more transparent.
"I think shutting it down for this long is a little bit ridiculous, but I do understand why they did it. I mean, I don't want a fire up here," she said.
We wanted to know, why aren't power lines buried to prevent wildfires?
PG&E said under-grounding power lines is not a remedy for this issue. They are subject to their own vulnerabilities including lightning strikes, flooding, and earthquakes.
The company is looking at hardening the electric system including replacing wires and wooden poles.
In the meantime, neighbors like Stephanie Warner say the voluntary shutdown should come as a very last resort.
"I need a CPAP machine at night and without that, I'm afraid I won't wake up," she said.
The fire fears once again raging across much of California.
According to the power outage map, some locations may not have the power fully restored until Tuesday at 5 p.m.
