(KRON) -- Many North Bay residents will likely lose power in the coming days as PG&E prepares to conduct public safety power shutoffs in parts of Napa, Sonoma and Marin counties.
The utility said Thursday it is monitoring weather conditions, including high winds that could take down power lines and dry conditions that make vegetation more prone to catching fire.
The planned outages would take place on Friday and Saturday. Parts of Butte, Lake, Shasta, Solano and Yolo counties would also lose power. It's unknown when — or for how long — the outages could last.
If you feel like you've been left in the dark lately, you're not alone. Last week, thousands of Bay Area homes and businesses lost power during PG&E public safety power shutoffs. Many were impacted for multiple days in a row.
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PG&E said it reviewed field findings and fire-spread modeling tools to understand what could have happened if it did not shut off power last week.
"During restoration efforts following the Oct. 14 event, crews reported many separate, weather-related damage and hazard findings across the PSPS footprint," said the utility. "One example included a broken neutral wire… Because the circuit had been de-energized, crews were able to safely identify and address the issue before restoring service."
Data found potential wildfire ignitions could have resulted in a 385-acre wildfire in Berkeley and a 1,600-acre wildfire in Castro Valley.
"PG&E understands the frustration and hardship caused by power shutoffs. Each PSPS decision weighs the immediate impacts of an outage against the potentially devastating consequences of a wildfire," said PG&E.
You can find more information on previous PSPS and stay informed on upcoming outages at PG&E's website. Current outages can be found on the outage map.
