As voters head to the polls on Election Day, power companies throughout California are warning customers about possible electricity shutoffs as potentially strong winds are expected in several counties.
In Northern California, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) meteorologists and operations staff were monitoring the region for strong winds forecasted for Tuesday evening, the company reported on Monday.
The outages could hit small portions of 17 counties, including areas in the Sacramento Valley and Northern Sierra, North Bay, and East Bay areas, starting after 9:30 p.m. in some counties. They are expected to affect about 22,000 customers.
Weather forecasters are expecting low humidity, dry vegetation, and gusting winds to hit the area. When those factors are combined, California allows utilities to temporarily turn off power to specific areas to reduce the risk of fires caused by overloaded utility lines….