With the East Bay expected to endure several days of dangerous Diablo winds this week, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company has said it may preemptively shut off power to thousands of East Bay customers plus 1,600 in eastern Contra Costa County.
The outages, if instituted, would begin Thursday and end Sunday and would mostly affect homes and businesses in the Berkeley Hills, along and on either side of Grizzly Peak Boulevard, as well as UC Berkeley’s main campus, according to PG&E’s website. A large concentration of projected shutoffs would be in neighborhoods adjacent to Tilden Regional Park but not include Wildcat Canyon Regional Park to the north.
A PG&E spokesperson said the utility company considers multiple factors when considering where to implement a shutoff, including wind speeds, humidity levels, dry material on the ground, red flag warnings and real life observations. And its equipment placement can vary by geographic areas, impacting whether or not a particular region or neighborhood needs to have its power shut off to reduce fire danger.
“We have an entire team of meteorologists, as well as electric experts, analyzing all these factors to determine which areas could be impacted, should a PSPS be called,” said spokesperson Tamar Sarkissian by email.
PG&E plans preemptive shutoffs when weather conditions make a wildfire especially likely, such as after long dry periods and when high winds could damage power equipment or when the National Weather Service issues “red flag warnings.”
Several of those red flag warnings were scheduled to take effect early Thursday morning in and around Lake County to the north and across wide swathes of the sierras, but none in the East Bay, according to the NWS.
The Diablo winds, so named for the mountain they cross directly east of Berkeley, “will peak Thursday across the northern and central Sierra, as well as into portions of the North and East Bays,” according to PG&E’s announcement.
Richmond temperatures will be hot during this time frame, hitting highs of 85 to 87 Thursday and Friday and a high of 81 Saturday.
“We’re more concerned about spots at higher elevations, above 1,000 feet,” NWS Meteorologist Joe Merchant told Richmondside’s sister publication, Berkeleyside. Around sea level, the “winds are not going to be that bad.”
PG&E customers can look up their addresses on the utility’s website to see if they are included in the planned outage.
PG&E typically imposes several preemptive shutoffs every year; if this one takes effect it will be the sixth for 2026.
Richmondside Editor-in-Chief Kari Hulac contributed to this report.
