UPDATE (6:30 a.m.) - Residents in the Paso Robles and Atascadero are experiencing power outages.
According to PG&E, power should be restored at approximately 7:15 a.m. on January 19.
Community Resource Centers are available in Grover Beach and Santa Maria, they open at 8:00 a.m.
Public Safety Power Shutoffs are still expected in eastern portions of Arroyo Grande and Nipomo, as well as parts of Tepesquet Canyon, east of Santa Maria, and the Twitchell Dam area.
PG&E estimates shutoffs in those areas to begin at 8:00 a.m.
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Nearly 450 PG&E customers on the Central Coast could lose power as early as 8 a.m. Tuesday as part of a PSPS, or Public Safety Power Shut off.
Areas impacted include eastern portions of Arroyo Grande and Nipomo, as well as parts of Tepesquet Canyon, east of Santa Maria, and the Twitchell Dam area.
Losing power in the Huasna Valley is something one neighbor says they're prepared for happening often in winter storms.
"We have a small generator to turn on the lights and charge cell phones only," Jonas Perez said.
Huasna is one of several communities facing a potential PSPS from PG&E on Tuesday.
"There's a variety of different triggers that go into the decision [for shutting off power]: a Red Flag alert from the National Weather Service, very dry conditions which we already have, and wind gusts above 35 mph," PG&E Communications Representative Mark Mesesan said.
This winter, however, some households electricity needs are a little different.
"My concern is how are my kids going to go online and make their class," Perez said.
Monday evening crews started putting together a Community Resource Center in Grover Beach to try to bridge the gap if power goes out.
People will be able to come to the center to charge their devices, use WiFi and have access to snacks and water.
PG&E says shutting off power is not a decision they take lightly.
"It is not something that we want to do but it is something we are forced to do in order to keep people safe and to prevent wildfire ignitions from happening from utility services. So we do take it seriously and we ask our customers take it seriously," Mesesan said.
There are steps you can take ahead of this event to prepare like freezing plastic containers filled with water to make blocks of ice that can be placed in your refrigerator or freezer during an outage to prevent foods from spoiling. If you do experience an outage, the company recommends unplugging or turning off all electrical appliances to avoid overloading circuits when power is restored.
If the shutoff goes into effect, it would be the first PG&E PSPS in our area.
The Community Resource Centers are located at:
- Grover Beach Community Center, 1230 Trouville Avenue, Grover Beach
- First Christian Church, 1550 South College Drive, Santa Maria.
All are scheduled to open by Tuesday, 1/19 at 8:00 a.m.
Normal Operating Hours: 0800 – 2130 (due to stay-at-home order/curfew).
