Millions Brace for Unprecedented Power Cuts in California
- Most of San Francisco Bay area affected in pre-emptive move
- Utility PG&E, driven bankrupt by wildfires, won’t risk another
This article is for subscribers only.
It was a once-unthinkable move: purposely shutting off power to millions of people and plunging a major metropolitan area into darkness.
And yet, on Wednesday, utility PG&E Corp. began cutting electricity to almost 800,000 California homes and businesses -- representing roughly 2.4 million people -- to prevent wildfires as high winds are forecast to whip through the state. The outages will hit 34 counties, including much of the San Francisco Bay area, triggering a scramble by residents to prepare for what may be days without power.