fire officials determined downed pg&e power lines caused the fire. it's doinghi ier done before, becau of the high winds and dry conditions, pg&e is now shutting off power before a fire, as these conditions for fire danger get higher and higher. >> this is to mitigate wildfire risk. this is for the safety of the communities. we know how people rely on electricity and will only shut off the power temporarily as a last resort. >> reporter: pg&e does not acknowledge it has anything to do with because it was caused by power lines. >> having active power lines can contribute to a fire, can make it harder for fire officials to fight. why shut down the power? >> it's for the safety of the community. when a fire threat arises, when there's these extreme weather conditions, we want to do everything to keep our community safe and our customers safe. that's why we're looking at shutting off the power tonight. >> right now i talked to folks here in calistoga. most of them tell me they're patient with this decision, but having power out for an extended period of

and the pg&e generation rate decreases. should we make changes to our supply portfolio choices so we can lower our costs that way? at this point all are working on what the universe of options could be. what the consequences of the options are. worworst-case scenario is we postpone our april or operate at a higher cost for some amount of time. it will setback our efforts to procure new california renewable resource and begin programming to support our local build out and affordability objectives. in partnership with our colleagues at cal cca we'll be examining our options for recourse at the cpuc. in the meantime, we'll continue to provide clean, reliable and affordable service to our customers. clean power sf continues to offer generations service that's is about 2% lower cost than pg&e. so customers are receiving savings today for a product that is cleaner and reinvesting in our community. i'm happy to take any questions you may have. >> commissioners -- >> i'm not sure if it's a question or a comment. i appreciate your p

joining us on the phone is pg&e. will pg&e cut anymore power tonight and how long before you bring the power back on? >> nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and the communities that we serve as you reported. we did initiate a public safety power shut off this evening. in addition to the customers co lake county, we shut off power for public safety in other counties, in the sierra foothills. we have 59,000 customers that have their power shut off. >> how long till you think they will get the power back on? >> this is all based on public safety and as part of our wildfire safety program, we have a wildfire safety operation center that monitors conditions 24/7. you mentioned the red flag warning, we look at that. look at temperature, humidity, and on the ground observations. so this will go till tomorrow because the winds are supposed to go through monday morning and then we will start the process of restoration. because it is a wind event we do need to patrol the lines to make sure trees or other

pg&e is shutting off power to thousands of customers to prevent another wildfire. >> reporter: pg&e says it will shut power off to 17,000 customers in napa, sonoma county and lake county later tonight. fall cal fire blames some of the fires in napa county last year on power lines and that is why pg&e is taking this unprecedented step. a text messages lit up cell phones this weekend warning of possible power outages from pg&e. she lives in napa and received the alert saturday night. >> i think it is a good idea. you never know what the winds might do. >> reporter: fire in october last year devastated napa and sonoma counties. that includes the residential community which is still recovering and rebuilding. the utility says cutting off power reduces the risk of fires from power lines brought down from high winds. >> it impacts our customers. if we need to shut off the power for safety, it is about safety and keeping customers safe. >> reporter: nata, sonoma and lake counties and several others in northern california. she got the alert from pg&e the power could go off sunday night or monday

thousands of pg&e customers remain off-line but, pg&e says 70% should be back on by midnight in wine country. san marino hospital is a critical facility within the area that pg&e shot off. the shut off came about 8:00 last night. pg&e trouble crews are starting up the hospital to eyeball inspect each and every line and piece of equipment leading to it, whether on foot, in vehicles, or in helicopters and steep terrain. this is happening right now on hundreds, if not thousands, of powerlines. >> so, there is not a tree on the line or there could have been debris that had fallen on the line. there could have been some equipment that was damaged. we need to make sure that equipment is repaired, the line is are clear and it's safe to >> the hospital told us that be permanent generator system it happened to hire a backup generating system. nevertheless, the number of appointments and critical procedures were rescheduled for safety. the hospital was where oh where -- well aware that a shot off when it received a second notice of power shutdown. >> as the weather conditions were coming in sa

strong winds and fire danger forcing pg&e to take action. it's turning off the power in 12 northern california counties. >> this map shows who is affected. so far nearly 60,000 customers without power, 17,000 of them in the north bay. among the critical information running across the bottom of your screen are the names of schools in lake county that have already announce they'd will be closed tomorrow because they don't have any power. >> we have team coverage for you. meteorologist rob mayeda is tracking when the winds will start to howl and when they'll calm down. but let's begin with marianne favro in one of the napa county communities in the dark tonight. marianne? >> reporter: well, i'm here at deer park, which is just north of st. helene. around 8:00 tonight, pg&e purposely turned off all the lights because they're trying to protect this area from the danger of wildfires. now, if you take a look behind me, you'll three is absolutely no power at this hour. and if you look at the house next door, they have actually lit candles at the fro

pg&e is doing this in the name of public safe weather. wind gusts to 50 miles per hour were forecast for last night and this morning. this is an effort to prevent fire. employees at all seasons bistro tried to save the $10,000 worth of food they have. they are hoping the ice will keep it cool for 8 to 10 hours. he said he would have liked to have a little more notice. >> anything you could have done to protect your inventory? >> no. i mean, not on that short of notice. there's nothing we can do. we have to just cross our fingers. everything is iced down. we've got, you know, a generator is definitely in the works at this point. i think everyone needs to have a generator. if this is the protocol, wonderful. now we know what's going to happen. >> reporter: pg and is e also shut the power off to communities in the sierras. a total of 59,000 customers are in the dark right now. it's not windy down here in calistoga down here in the downtown. but pg&e says they won't be turning the powerback on until at least daylight. they want crews to go in

>> on pg&e's part. >> how so? >> giving it back to us since they were blamed for fires starting before. >> bill chapman manages a restaurant in kelseyville. it remained closed for lunch today even after the power went on. down the streed armand pauley and his wife own a computer store. they don't agree with the shutdown. >> well, i don't had i it was necessa -- think it was necessary. >> i'm not happy at all. >> we understand how inconvenient it is and how frustrating it is. >> reporter: probably for both sides now. the utility claims it may have prevented a fire disaster. the county emerged unburned sxanand anxious to talk about it. >> i think it's kind of screwy. >> reporter: the lake county administrators are not happy about this either. the board of supervisor his a meeting invited representatives of pg&e to show up at that meeting and they received an earful to quote supervisor rob brown, "the way that pg&e rolled this out is not acceptable." they want pg&e to get that message. live in lake county in middleto

. >>> coming up, pg&e found liable for 16 fires last year. the shareholders won't have to shoulder all of the cost. a new law getting some mixed reactions. just put league championship series on the marquee...and fans lean forward,,, dodgers and brewers went toe to toe again.... >>> it's the postseason. put the championship series on the marquee, and fans will lean forward. dodgers and brewers went toe to toe again. bob uchre front and center. top of the 1st, david freeze drives to center. lorenzo cane, let me go up and get it. grabbed the home run. l.a. had only a couple hit off of starter wade miley. to the bottom of the 5th, still scoreless. orlando arcea, drive to center. bellinger, not going to make that play. 1st of 2 home runs. excuse me. 1st of 2 runs in the inning. top of the 7. pinch hitting, bases. dodgers down a run. a double play to end the inning. dave roberts not happy with that. top 8, justin turner, looks like an extra from "game of thrones." struck out 4 times. didn't miss this 1. how about a 2-run blast to left to put the d

you can go to pg&e's website pge.com/wildfiresafety. >> before you go, has pg&e given you any idea on how long it will take to get the power back on afterwards? >> reporter: so they are going to do it with a combination of air and ground resources. they've been telling some communities they won't get power probably as late as a tuesday. so this could be a strong stretch without electricity. >> they would only do it in the event of extreme weather, naturally occurring to a lot of you watching this with the extreme weather. the winds are not as strong. red flag warnings, they're up. it has not been that hot. humidity levels, they are dropping. let me show you what's going to happen overnight. the wind futurecast, look at all of that purple, everywhere you see that, that's the forecast for winds in excess of 50 miles an hour. this is good for monday morning at 2:00 a. these winds, they will blow up overnight. they do so in sonoma county at higher elevations. do they go away immediately? not really. that's 2:00 in the morning by 7:00 in the morning. 8:00 in the morning there are still pla

the restaurant is hoping pg&e will turn on the power tomorrow morning. shortly after the power was cut around 8:30, 9:00 tonight, police showed up to put some cones in the streets to create some kind of stops while the lights were out. they both told me they understand why pg&e cut the power and tat the inconvenience is better than losing homes and lives. but both would have liked a little more warning this outage might have happened so they could have better prepared. is there anything you could have done to protect your inventory? >> not on that short of notice. everything is iced down, and we've got -- a generator is definitely in the works at this point. i think everyone needs to have a generator. if this is the protocol, wonderful. now we need to know what's going to happen. >> we had no idea until it went out at the restaurant we were eating at. >> and you would have done things differently had you known. >> right, our batteries, our phones are almost dead and it would have been nice to know because then we would have charged our phones ahead of ti

in the south bay pg&e is clearing away trees and brush. some neighbors say the utility company went too far. "today in the bay's" marian favro has more from los gatos foothills. >> reporter: this 150 foot tall eucalyptus tree bears a yellow x an indication crewed hired by pg&e plan to chop it down to provide better clearance from the power pole and recuse fiduc danger. neighbors say this doesn't need to be cut down, just cut back. >> there are other trees where they're perfectly justified, but they need to discuss that case by case with each of the people who own the property. >> reporter: in a statement, pg&e is accelerating its vegetation management work in los gatos to further reduce the risk of wildfire and keep our customers, their families and our communities safe. >> all the trees in front here, are marked to come down. >> reporter: some neighbors in the aldacrop heights posted signs reading "please do not touch this tree." they believe that removing them could create more dangers. >> if these trees, these five trees that are right

pg&e ordered to chop down thousands of trees in high dangerous areas. the people who live there say this is going too far. >>> and one year ago in the wine country fire storm, people had only seconds to get out. tonight, how a sound you probably never heard before could save lives. >>> and the dmv fesses up to yet odd mistake. hundreds of people wrongly registered to vote. california's public schools rank 44th in the nation. 44th. i'm marshall tuck, i'm a public-school parent, and i know we can do better. in the public schools i led, we got more funding into our classrooms, supported our teachers, and we raised graduation rates by 60%. that's why president obama's education secretary endorses me. we've done it before. now, let's do it for every public-school student in california. i'm marshall tuck. i'm running for state superintendent. the north bay.. leaving parts of w >>> exactly one year ago tonight, the st destructive series of fires in state history erupted in the north bay leaving parts of wine country a wasteland. since then pressure has been mo

police and fire will respond as well as pg&e. pg&e will make the scene safe. ♪ california's public schools rank 44th in the nation. 44th. i'm marshall tuck, i'm a public-school parent, and i know we can do better. in the public schools i led, we got more funding into our classrooms, supported our teachers, and we raised graduation rates by 60%. that's why president obama's education secretary endorses me. we've done it before. now, let's do it for every public-school student in california. i'm marshall tuck. i'm running for state superintendent. to keep our community safe. before you do any project big or small, pg&e will come out and mark your gas and electric lines so you don't hit them when you dig. call 811 before you dig, and make sure that you and your neighbors are safe. >>> this is ktvu mornings on 2. nings on 2. >> 7:29. a lot of you are waking up noticing a chill in the air. if it is sunshine and warmer weather you're after, may i temp you with this live picture of cabo san lucas, mexico. 79 degrees, hit a high of 80.

a recent report blamed pg & e equipment for starting a dozen fires last year. the fire department is boosting staffing levels during this red flag weekend. pat hopes his neighbors don't lose power. >> power pretty much isolates us. so i'm just hoping that if power is taken down, it's done judiciously. >> reporter: just got an update text from pg & e in the last 30 seconds. in sonoma county, 415 customers will be impacted. in napa county, 5,700 customers. in lake county, 11,000 customers will be impacted by the power shutdown. after your power is shut down, we hope it doesn't happen, but if it does, pg & e saying that could take up to 24 hours to restore power. why is that? they say because utility crews have to walk the power lines to make sure it's safe to re-energize the power lines. more on this. we will have more on this tonight at 6:00 on abc 7 news. >> some useful information. many thanks. >>> now to our meteorologist tracking our fire weather. we are in for strong winds. >> the strongest winds unfortunately are going to occur overnight tonight. they have

pg&e ordered to chop down thousands of trees in high dangerous areas. the people who live there say this is going too far. >>> and one year ago in the wine country fire storm, people had only seconds to get out. tonight, how a sound you probably never heard before could save lives. >>> and the dmv fesses up to yet odd mistake. hundreds of the north bay.. leaving parts of w >>> exactly one year ago tonight, the most destructive series of fires in state history erupted in the north bay leaving parts of wine country a wasteland. since then pressure has been mounting on pg&e to prevent it from happening again. now people in some of northern california's most beautiful communities are learning that protection comes at a price. >> reporter: it's a sound you'll hear echoing throughout much of the california foothills right now, the rip of a chain saw as pg&e clears its power lines. >> though feet de ovhangs above the line. >> reporter: pg&e has new marching orders from the cpuc. it's called general order 95. in the wake of the deadly 2015 butte fire and more t

others feel it was an overreaction by pg&e. >> for pg&e to cut the power to the entire city, based on what i saw last night, is a serious problem. >> reporter: that's how michael feels as he watches his employees here at the scramble s after being without power for almost 24 hours. he felt the winds last night did not pose a threat. >> the ones that are suffering from the decisions are the small business owners like myself. if you talk to pg&e, that's what they'll tell you, this is the new normal. that new normal is not okay. >> reporter: pg&e says it was necessary. the public safety power shutoff went into effect sunday night around 8:00 when pg&e said wind speeds exceeded 60 miles per hour overnight in parts of three north bay counties. the sierra foothill winds got close to 100 miles per hour. some 60,000 customers were affected. >> i had to buy ice today. >> reporter: collin lives 25 miles from calistoga. >> we don't have the means to go to the grocery store and buy new stuff. >> reporter:ays customers will not be compensated for any losses like food that has to be thrown out beca

pg&e has its hand on the power switch. >> we are joined live from san francisco. what is all the confusion? >> reporter: first we should mention this is a strapbtegy others use. i have been in communication with fire authorities in sonoma and they say they have been k communicating with pg&e all day, and it's causing confusion with other counties in the bay area. this evening alameda county through out texts that the hills are being monitored as a potential pg&e shutoff, but the utility company is monitoring all counties involved in the red flag warning but has not raised alameda county to the 12 others it's closely monitoring. sonoma and napauded and since t in those areas if pg&e de-energizes their lines, they are encouraging residents to be ready. >> make sure your cell phones are charged and make sure your car is fully gassed up, and then you have taken all the steps to be prepared for whatever the event may be. >> we have already reached out to customers that live in tier 3 areas, areas defined as extreme fire threat areas, and let them know that in the event

pg&e says they cut the power because wind gusts are up to 50 miles an hour pick this map on the pg&e website shows the areas and communities that have no power now. more than 17,000 customers in the north bay currently don't have power, the majority in lake county. this is what it looks like in calistoga and people told us the power might be shut off and police put up temporary stop signs. one man is concerned about the food and refrigerators -- in refrigerators and fees -- freezers. >> they have to be careful. we don't want to happen what happened last year. that was a disaster. >> again, more than 17,000 customers in the north bay do not have power and it went out around 8:00 p.m. last night and it's not clear when it will be restored and the timing come back -- depends on weather conditions and repairs needed to the youtube -- utilities electric equipment. no power and kelsey built and cannot kind districts and the calistoga unified school district canceled classes for today. >>> bay area firefighters taking proactive steps to prevent wildfires from start -- from spreading. the co

pg&e says it depends on weather conditions and any repairs needed to the electrical

this mobile home park caters to the elderly. >> the pg&e went out. i don't like being in the dark. >> reporter: caregiver said they didn't give enough were not given enough notice. we could've gotten candles in heat. this is bad on them. >> a lot of people are struggling to survive on a string budget. >> reporter: this was called a man-made disaster by the sheriff. >> shutting down the power toor couldn't get them to specify where and whtremendous hardship. we have been impacted very significantly over the past four years. this is not something we need. we didn't ask for and don't need it. >> reporter: lake county is planning to discuss this and press pg&e to communicate better in the future. >> updated numbers from pg&e about restoring the power. >>> president trump and the first lady were in florida and georgia to see the devastation from hurricane michael. they were in panama city, florida where they survey the wreckage and heard stories of survival. at least 17 people were killed in the storm with another 46 people still missing. the president an

. >> reporter: santalina hospital is a critical facility within the area that pg&e shot off. a shot off that came about 8:00 last night. pg&e trouble crews are starting at the hospital, to eyeball, inspect each and every line, of piece of equipment leading to it, whether on foot, in vehicles, or, helicopters and steep terrain. this is happening on hundreds if not thousands of powerlines. >> there is not a tree on the line, or there could have been debris that has fallen on the line or some equipment that was damaged. we need to make sure that equipment is repaired, the lines are clear and it's safe to turn the line back on. >> reporter: the hospital administrator told us that beyond its own permanent generator system it happened to hire a backup generating system. nevertheless, the number of appointments and critical procedures were rescheduled for safety. the hospital was well aware that a shut off when it received a second notice of power shutdown. >> as the weather conditions were coming in saturday night, that's when we started giving notice that this could happen. that w

we are getting clear weather but also the pg&e offshore winds coming in. it is cutting off power to the fire areas. >>> when i was driving in i saw leaves and debris in the middle of the streets with tons of trees in the neighborhood but we did not have the power cut off but people in the north they did and they will continue to have that. >> we heard it all night. it kept me up all morning. there is a debate today of if this is the right thing to do. pg&e saying proactively that we are going to shut your power out because we are afraid if we do not that a wildfire could spark because of the downed power lines. >> 17,000 customers in the north bay are waking up without electricity. they will likely be without it all day. >>> they cut the power off as a precaution because of wildfire danger. smedley martinez is in calistoga. it is one of the cities without electricity. >> reporter: i talked to pg&e and they held public meetings informing the people that if they were to do this proactive shutdown it would be a 24 hour shutdown and they say that is what is ha

pg&e says they have crews are out in several areas impacted. they have to inspect each in tool -- each individual power line and that will take all day. >> we have to make sure it is safe before we can re-energize the line. basically, there is not a tree on the line or debris fallen on the line. there could have been a equipment damage. we want to make sure the equipment is repaired and the lines are cleared. and it is safe to turn the lines back on. >>> -- >> reporter: devastating wildfires came down in strong wind. pg&e shut off the power sunday night when similar weather conditions occurred with wind gusts up to 50 miles an hour. on the pg&e website cities impacted were calistoga, and deer park in napa county. lakecounty more than 400 in sonoma county's unincorporated northeast area. for locals and tourists out looking for coffee, they say they support the move but would have liked more notice to prepare. they have not received word on what is open and when power role returned. >> i could not find anything so i took a walk by the fire depart

if pg & e cuts the power to rece risk. she may not be able to read her book tonight if that happens. but she says she supports the t. yes. considering what happened last year which was, you know, very scary. so, yeah. i feel comfortable about it. >> the tubs fire last october killed 22 people and destroyed more than 5,000 hoaxmes in napa and sow momnoma counties. they will shut off power to more than 17 thou dhou,000 customers. they already have done that. so 5,700 customers in napa county have now had their power shut off. 415 people in sonoma county. and 11,300 in lake county. if you do have your power shut off, it is likely that it won't be turned on again for at least ou longer. and this is also very important. because of the power outages, many schools in this area have decided not to hold classes tomorrow because they may not have power. so be sure and check with your local school to see if in fact school will be in session tomorrow. we have also learned that some homes in nevada county have had their power shut off

that's why i know how to negotiate with pg&e. we're not sincere. in order to have gone into a clean solar power, there are many factors. we've not been very sincere with this. we say clean. we want to know how clean. if you go deeper into that it's a slap in our face. pg&e does whatever it can and they're free to do it. they're a private enterprise. so, we have no clear notion, first, about how clean it is. and secondly, we are kind of indebted to pg&e because we think when they say something, they don't keep their promise because they have control. we have no control. as one of the commissioners said, what type of a business plan we have? do we have a business plan where every element of the business plan we are in the cockpit. as far as i know from my reading, this convoluted stuff, we are not in the cockpit. if you are not in the cockpit and pge and is in the cockpit, this thing will go on forever. that's my question to you. you have sufficient intelligence and i hope you understand what i'm saying. >> thank you for your comment. francisco. is t

pg and he has to do better. >> caltrans on informed. no lights on state highways and no signage for safety. households and businesses with little time to prepare and no specific and time to plan for in this shipping store in lake county was waiting on power tuesday. people tried to be patient, by generators and consider the big picture. >> with the wind i was really grateful they turned the power off. i could rest easier because i thought that was a good reason. i think it is safe. >> i wish they had done this year ago. >> napa bill dodd says pg&e has always had the right to powerdown to prevent fires but did not and now it's inaugural are run will be revealed. >> they have to report to the public utilities commission within 10 days and have a report to them on what they did, why they did it and how they did it and so we will see. >> schools, businesses and first responders need to be clued in and outages minimize. >> with a night like this and you don't see the trees moving, why isn't the power back on? >> this is the new normal and we

the move by pg&e in fire season that has a south bay community up >>> right now at 5:00, overly cautious but is it too much? the move by pg&e and fire season that has the community up in arms. >>> plus the search for survivors is intensifying along the florida panhandle. it's unclear how many more people are missing in the wake of hurricane michael. >>> but first campaign signs tainted the investigation in the east bay after a candidate becomes the center of a vandalism investigation. >>> the news at 5:00 starts rightevening, everyoveryonevery. i'm terry mcsweeney. >>> a candidate said someone defaced his campaign banner with a swastika and other markings. >> it just so happens a forum is about to happen tonight. christy is live with this story tonight. christy? >> reporter: justin shotz says he is coming to that campaign forum tonight. police say they know it's vandalism, but they're also investigating to see if it's something more. >> reporter: the banner on a busy corner in fremont still shows the markings. >> i was just so speechless. a lot of -- i felt anger, right, obvious ail lot

pg&e cut the power because wind gusts were up to 50 miles per hour. this map is on the pg&e website and the colored area shows communities that have no power right now. some of the cities impacted include calistoga, st. helena and deer park in napa county. middletown coffeyville and clear lake oaks. many schools have canceled classes for today because of the power outage. this is what it look like last night in calistoga out when the power went out. people were warned the power might be shut off and when it did go out police put up a temporary stop lines where streetlights were not working. pg&e temporarily turned off the power as a result -- last resort due to the extreme weather conditions. >> our employees live and work in these communities. we know it impacts our customers. but know this is really about safety and keeping our customer safe and that's our top priority. >>> as of right now we are not cleared when the power will be restored. the timing depends on the weather conditions and if any repairs maybe needed to the utilities electrical equip

lets get more answers for you pg&e spokesperson -- from a pg&e spokesperson. >> we will restore all power today. we'll communicate that as we continue to make progress on the safety inspection. >> but for sure at the end of this day, that's our plan at this time, that's correct. >> what is taking so long to turn the power back on? >> that's a good question. there's a real process that goes into turning the electricity back oneself. so, all electric transmission and distribution lines need to be visually inspected and tested. that means the first thing crews do is inspect the substations, the lines are inspected by vehicle, foot and aerial patrols, and during those inspections crews are looking for a potential damage to the line, polls and towers. once it is deemed that those are safe to operate, the infrastructure is tested and at that point, once the test looks good, we're able to go ahead and the breaker is closed and the power is turned back on. so, it really is a multifaceted process. >> is the restoration process going as you expected or is this slower than you thought? >> you know,

>> reporter: pg and e telling us tonight that it will start proactively shutting down power to thousands of customers across the bay area in the next four to five hours. all of those customers are in the north bay region. this substation in petaluma supplies a lot of power to the area. the company says this move that has never been done before by the company is all in the name of safety. >> these are portions of cities and towns that are deemed extreme fire risk. this is to mitigate wildfire risk, keep our customers safe. >> reporter: customers in sonoma, napa counties are getting -- >> gallons of water. first aid kit. >> reporter: pat abercrombie is ready with a go bag. he's even got a red flag flying outside of his home to warn his neighbors fire danger is real. >> we have got a lot of fuel down here on the ground on fitch mountain because we haven't had a real fire for 75 years. >> it's necessary, and it's something that's been a long time waiting. >> reporter: sonoma county supervise says it will cause some problems, but will avoid more problems. >> cal fire had determined a cause fo

that they can stay with pg&e or drop pg&e. >> as long as there's an alternative to what we're getting now, that's a absolutely good idea. >> reporer state law, pg&e customers will automatically become ebce customers if they don't take the initiative to opt out of ebce. >> actually, the option is important because partly because people don't pay attention. >> reporter: east bay community energy does have the legal right to charge each person who opts out $5 for the privilege of doing so. but the agency has decided to waive that fee entirely until the middle of next year. >> you can do it online. go to our call center, speak with a call center operator or automated calling system to opt out. >> reporter: ebce says it will sell you power for 1.5% less than pg&e. >> as a public agency, you know, we operate at, you know, a lower rate of overhead than pg&e. >> cheaper is better because the energy prices are already skyrocketing. >> reporter: many pg&e customers still have a bad taste in their mouths from the ratepayer's share of the wildfire costs they will have to pay. >> with them increas

pg&e is being criticized not for deenergized but for the way it was rolled out. >> pg&e wants to do the right thing. >> the state senator doesn't argue with the call, cut power rather than risk wildfire. sunday and monday were hot, cry and windy enough to justify it. >> we have to learn and do better. pg&e has to do better. >> as the utility surveyed lines for damage and restored electricity the company is fielding complaints that poor planning and information created the blackout. >> i've been in constant communication and i have been blunt. >> cal trans uninformed. no lights on state highways and no signage for safety. households and businesses with little time to prepare. the shipping store was waiting on power tuesday, people tried to be patient. buy generators and consider the picture. >> with the wind i was grateful. i could rest easier. i thought that was a good reason. it saved us. >> i wish they had done this a year ago. pg&e has had the right to power down but didn't. now the inaugural run will be reviewed. >> they have to report within 10 days and have a report to them on wha

this map is on the pg&e website. the colored areas show the communities with no power. 17,000 customers in the north bay currently have no electricity. the majority are in lake county. this is what it looked like in calistoga last night. when the power went out. the people that we spoke with say that they were warned that the power might be shut off and when it went out, police put up stop signs where the street lights were not working. pg&e turned off the power as a last resort because the current weather cannot contribute to wildfires. >> our employees live and work in these communities. we know that it impacts our customers. we know that if we need to shut off the power, we know that this is about safety and about keeping customers safe and that is the top priority. >> it is not clear when the power will be restored. pg&e says the -- timing depends on weather conditions and repairs that may be needed to the electrical equipment. no power means no school for school district today according to the lake county office

this was the first for pg&e. and it was to keep wind and heating q from clashing and combusting. they had their power shut off at 8:00 p.m. during a red flag warning, winds blew more than 60 miles per hour. many of last year's devastating wildfires were caused by power lines that came down in strong winds. now, when the winds died down on monday, pg&e crews began to inspect the lines to make sure they were not damaged. by monday, it restored power to 70% of customers, but 21,000 remain without power. there are parts of napa and lake counties without power this morning. some residents wonder why electricity was cut in places and it experienced it downtown. >> it depends on the line and where the line runs, if it runs through a tiered street area which is a most extreme fire areas deemed by the cpuc, that's what we'll look to turn off. >> now, many complaints came from customers who said they were not given enough time or notice to prepare, several restaurants were forced to close, one store owner gave away his food rather than throw it away in the dumpster, and several stores clos

here at pg&e's emergency operations center it's all hands on deck. the biggest windstorm of the year with 70-mile an hour gusts forecasted is hours away. so 87,000 customers in 12 counties woke up to this message by phone, text and e- mail. >> this is an important safety alert from pacific gas and electric company. extreme weather conditions and high fire danger are forecasted in el dorado county. to protect public safety pg&e may also temporarily turn off power in your neighborhood or community. >> reporter: staff at the command center are monitoring conditions in realtime and if they do cut power, it would be historic. >> this is the first time that we are considering proactively shutting off the power for public safety and we know that turning off the power is something that greatly impacts our customers. so this is only something we would do under extreme weather conditions. >> reporter: the stand-by for a proactive powerdown comes one year after the wine country fires which were blamed on branches that were not pruned back and then fell on live

well, i'm sorry, but that new normal is not okay. >> reporter: pg&e says it was necessary. the public safety power shut-off went into effect sunday night around 8:00 when pg&e said wind speeds exceeded 60 miles per hour overnight in parts of three north bay counties. the sierra foothills winds got close to 100 miles per hour. some 60,000 customers were affected. >> i had to go and buy ice. >> reporter: colin keene lives in anguin. >> unfortunately we don't have the means to go to the grocery store whenever we want to and buy a bunch of new stuff. >> reporter: pg&e says customers will not be compensated for any losses, like food, that has to be thrown out, because power was shut off for safety reasons and customers, like the only gas station in town, received a 24-hour warning. cheryl hurd, "today in the bay." >>> as far as why it's taking so long to restore power, officials say that crews are checking power lines just to make sure that there was no wind damage. pg&e is hoping everyone will have power later this morning. >> 4:34. >>> a bay area man charged in connection with

i mean, you are making the assumption in good faith about pg&e. i won't make a comment on that, but they have been in the newspaper on a few items, so would there be documentation on that and would there be a way for the city of san francisco thousand they are in charge of the tree to insure that, in fact, they have made a recent inspection or will make a new inspection or maybe as a term and condition if we allow the tree to continue living there, can we make it a term and condition as part of the situation here to require that pg&e make an inspection and allay the fear of the property owner there won't be an event. >> yes. we can call 1-800-pge-500 # o and they will come out and evaluate the lines whether they think they are their lines or someone else's lines or a closed line, they will ensure public safety. when i worked there for two years ago, a lot of it was a result of issues not maintaining treeing and power lines and forest fires. they are required by law by the p.u.c. to inspect, and they do do inspections. that's not if or when. they d

issue but also to help all of pg&e customers, for example. and also to make some market changes that would balance -- would create more transparency in how the excess assets that pg&e has are valued for these purposes. for example, they had proposed creating an auction that all entities in the market could participate and to acquire any excess power that pg&e may have. rather than using this administratively determined mechanism. and that may be a more equitable and transparent way to share these costs going forward. so the message i am trying to deliver here is that there are reforms that are still being considered by the cpuc. but those are going to not take -- not come into effect for another year or two or more. so we do need to figure out how to manage the decision and its effects on our business -- the effects on our business and in the -- in the near term. >> last question, i am assuming the speed of a local buildout program here does not impact there is one way or another because we have to pay the fee whether or not we generated more

at pg&e wherever we work, we work hard to protect the environment. getting the job done safely, so we can keep the lights on for everybody. because i live here i have a deeper connection to the community. and i want to see the community grow and thrive. every year we work with cities and schools to plant trees in our communities. so the environment is there for my kids and future generations. together, we're building a better california. you know when you're at ross and you ...for how much?.. yes. that's yes for less. fall's best accessories are even better when you find them for less. at ross. yes for less. >>> share inspiring stories in a weekly digital series called more in common. meet a north korean man who meets the love of his life after escaping and relocating to america. >> after forced labor and daily starvation, he attempted to escape north korea to save his life. he arrived as refugees in america. how tud you meet your wife? >> you're from south korea. he's from north korea. what is the biggest challenge? >> well, talk care of your health

behind me is the pg&e substation. if you've been down river road, you've seen it. it's a very large substation. right now it is closed. while traffic on river road is continuing, the area around here has been closed down. let's go to the video. earlier this afternoon, pg&e called and reported what they called a suspected device. suspected is stronger than suspicious. a sheriff's deputy told me it's on the other side of the complex just outside a fence next to the highway 101 offramp. traffic along the highway itself is moving slowly, as is traffic on river road. but offramp next to the station is closed as is the on-ramp to highway 101 south. as to what this device looks like, no description except in the deputy's words, it does not belong here. sonoma county's sheriff's bomb squad is on the way. there are still workers inside. no one on the inside is talking. as we come back live, we're just waiting. so the problem as you're looking at it now is just on the other side of this building over by those trees by the freeway probably 150 yards. hopefully, it's nothing b

that they can stay with pg&e or drop pg&e. >> as long as there's an alternative to what we're getting now, that's a absolutely good idea. >> reporter: under state law, pg&e customers will automatically become ebce customers if they don't take the initiative to opt out of ebce. >> actually, the option is important because partly because people don't pay attention. >> reporter: east bay community energy does have the legal right to charge each person who opts out $5 for the privilege of doing so. but the agency has decided to waive that fee entirely until the middle of next year. >> you can do it online. go to our call center, speak with a call center operator or automated calling system to opt out. >> reporter: ebc says it will sell you power for 1.5% less than pg&e. >> as a public agency, you know, we operate at, you know, a lower rate of overhead than pg&e. >> cheaper is better because the energy prices are already skyrocketing. >> reporter: many pg&e customers still have a bad taste in their mouths from the ratepayer's share of the wildfire costs they will have to pay. >> with them

is in calistoga, where pg&e is cutting power. this is an unprecedented move by pg&e for this part of california. . >> reporter: good morning to you, laura. unprecedented. they've never done such a thing. we're on lake demonstrate where the power outage is taking place. this is the only light here as the planned power outages take place. calistoga high classes are canceled because of the power being out. in napa and lake county five school districts are canceling classes including right here at calistoga unified as well as lakeport and middletown. all together according to pg&e about 59,000 customers without power. that ranges from the north bay to the sierra foot hills. the fire danger is high due to the winds and the dry vegetation in the area and remember it was back in june that cal fire said it was pg&e's power lines that caused parts of the north bay wildfires. so pg&e is notifying homeowners either via text, email or automated call about the planned power outages and our crews spoke to one homeowner in napa who says the pla

for a long time, pg&e saying they were going to do this. people hearing it but not understanding the consequences. here in calistoga, downtown looks like a ghost town. how quickly we realize we're creatures of habit when electricity disappeared. >> it interrupted my mud bath i had planned, my massage. >> reporter: after pg&e pulled the plug last night, a public safety power shut off in response to high fire danger. >> did you expect this? >> in a way i did because it was blowing there pretty hard last night. >> reporter: pg&e says winds gusted at 70 miles an hour in the hills above. that's why they cut powers to transmission lines, to reduce risk. >> it's in the same of safety. we understand how leelectricitys important to our customer. and we would only do this as a last resort. >> reporter: the mayor and fire chief disagreed. >> i think in the pre planning stages it might have had some merit. but earlier today i don't think it's necessary. >> reporter: the mayor spent hours on the phone waiting for pg&e to tell him when the power would be

but tonight pg defding deci response to shut tosas d a one er. bunight me are asking if the utility overreacted. good evening, i'm ken bastida. >> i'm elizabeth cook. pg&e aims to have the power back on for 70% of customers by midnight. the deliberate outages hit 17,000 customers in napa, sonoma, and lake counties. kpix 5 joe vazquez went to calistoga tonight where people are asking is this the new normal? the lights are back on. pg&e says they had to shut down the electricity to prevent the fire, but some business owners wonder if the company went too far. >> this is the height of the busy season. michael dunford lost about aroulast night. &e shut off money from hotel guests who demanded refunds as well as a loss of restaurant customers. >> as you can see right now, we have a completely empty patio except for five patrons sitting at the bar. >> reporter: dunford who is also the vice mayor of calistoga says october winds are often higher. all downtown calistoga. still they went through with the new policy of shutting off the power. not because of

pg&e crews began to inspect the liens to make sure they were not damaged. they restored power to 70% of customers, but 21,000 remain without power. after 24 hours, without power, not everyone was on board with their pro testify approach by pg&e to prevent wildfires. >>> we've been impacting very significantly over the last four years with disasters and this is not something that lake county needs and we didn't ask for it and would he don't need it. >> and this cannot be a sustainable way ahead of us. >> people were not given enough notice to prepare. several restaurants were forced to close. one store owner gave his food away rather than throw it in the dumpster and many parents were forced to stay home with their children. we got word that several school districts in lake county are going to reopen today. for the power we have 4,000 people in lake and napa county tell without power. the plan is to get the power restored today. however, there is no estimated time as to when that is going to happen. in san francisco lee martinez, fox tv news. >>> a 21-year-o

pg&e has to do better. >> pg&e says these preemptive power outages are the new normal and they will do it whenever weather conditions create an extreme risk of wildfires. >>> pg&e will pay $5 million for violations in two natural gas leaks in napa county. the public utilities commission issued the citations on monday and stems from the 2016 incident in the community of deer park near st. helena. agency said pg&e workers caused a gas leak while preparing -- repairing a service failed. a second gas leak in the same location resulted in two injuries. pg&e's pipelines have been under scrutiny under the 2010 explosion in san bruno that killed eight people and destroyed dozens of home. >>> 5:06 a.m. the arraignment for a sheriff's deputy that recorded private conversations between suspects in custody and their lawyers. subject james russell was caught discharge with four -- four counts of eavesdropping and his body camera showed him secretly recording at a sheriff some station. the case against the juveniles were dropped in all cases with children in january through august are being investig

. >>> 60,000 pg&e customers without power as the utility company proactively shut down electricity due to extreme fire threat. early this morning crews began patrolling power lines to look for any damage that may have taken place overnight. welcome everyone to the four on 2. >>17,000 of the 60,000 customers are in north bay, the same area of the destructive wildfires one year ago. within the past hour pg&e says that they plan to have power back on were 70 percent of those customers by midnight. >> tom, you talked with pg&e as well as with customers who lost power. >> reporter: first of all let take a look at this, these are pg&e trucks that are still waiting to be assigned to go out and do some inspection. these are the kinds of trucks that can chop trees down if they have to, they can trim trees if they need to and all of that stuff. the whole idea is there are a dozen of these, they are outdoing a line inspection leading to the restoration of power. driving around today, 20 hours into this outage, thousands of pg&e customers remain off-line, 70 percent should be back online by midnig

pg&e says they could cut power in extreme fire risk areas as a result. that includes portions of nampa, alameda and along with other counties along the central sierra. right now they are in the process of notifying customers who could be affected. >> soon after sonoma county responded to the warning. >> pg&e equipment was blamed for sparking several of the wine country wildfires this time lester. with eerily similar weather conditions building this encafi serious warngs as urce of ignit any type of feel bad or receptive brush, a fire will spread rapidly with a red flag condition. >> traditionally, october has been the height of northern california wildfire season. just last year, sonoma, napa and mendocino counties were torched by a firestorm ignited in red cloud conditions in october. from sky drone 5 you can see the tinder dry sunbleached grass in the east bay hills. fire marshall robert marshall says the low fire humidity combined with high winds and hot days is a grave concern. >> it has been a hot and dry summer and a very windy summer which reduces