PG&E initiated a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) for 159 customers east of Santa Maria on Friday morning.
The power was shut off at 8:18 a.m., according to the utility company.
PG&E says the action was taken to help prevent a wildfire during a period of high winds and dry weather.
According to a PG&E weather forecast, "Overnight tonight, we expect the northeast winds to strengthen resulting in another period of gusty to strong winds in the Sierra Nevada, North and East Bay Area hills as well as the Central Coast."
The affected customers are located southeast of Twitchell Reservoir, east of the Santa Maria River.
PG&E has opened a Community Resource Center for those residents at the Santa Maria Elks Lodge located at 1309 North Bradley Road in Santa Maria. The center will be open until 10 p.m. on Friday and offers water, snacks, an ADA-accessible restroom, device charging, and Wi-Fi.
The outage is expected to continue through 2 p.m. on Saturday. PG&E says power will be restored as soon as it's safe to do so.
To sign up for PSPS alerts on the PG&E website.
