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CA wildfire-related power shut-off expected after polls close, and stations have generators
If Your Time is short
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Pacific Gas & Electric Co., aka PG&E, which provides electricity to large areas of California, announced a potential power shut-off for some areas on election night, citing public safety concerns over high winds and wildfire risks.
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A PG&E spokesperson told PolitiFact that five polling locations fall within the scope of the shut-off, but shut-offs are forecast to begin after polling places close. Just in case, PG&E has provided polling centers with generators.
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In 2020, President Joe Biden won Solano, Lake and Santa Clara County where the affected polling stations are.
During our nationwide contest for power, did a California energy company pull the plug?
"#Breaking: They shut off the power on Republican voters," a user posted Nov. 5 on X, "Pacific Gas & Electric in California has shut off power in several ‘Republican’ areas."
The Pacific Gas & Electric Co., aka PG&E, provides electrical power to about 16 million people in northern and central California. But the company has not unplugged voters on Election Day.
There is potential for an intentional power shut-off to prevent wildfires in high winds, but it is forecast to happen after the polls close. And voting centers have backup generators in case a shut-off becomes necessary.
(Screenshot of X post)
In strong winds, live power lines falling down or knocking into dry vegetation can spark wildfires. So, if weather conditions merit it, utilities in California can be intentionally turned off to specific areas to reduce fire risk — this is called a public safety power shut-off.
Because of expected low relative humidity, dryer vegetation and gusting winds on election night, the criteria for a public safety power shut-off, PG&E began notifying people on Nov. 3 about a potential public safety power shut-off the evening of Nov. 5.
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PG&E announced the morning of Nov. 5 that five polling locations, but no vote tabulation centers, fall within the potential shut-off’s scope.
Nevertheless, none of the public safety power shut-offs are expected to take place when voting is taking place, PG&E spokesperson Jeff Smith said. "It’s continually under an evaluation" because weather can shift, but the earliest forecast shut off is 9:30 p.m. and "most of them are around 11 p.m."
Although power shutoffs are expected after polls close at 8 p.m. PST in California, "out of an abundance of caution," PG&E has provided backup generators to all the polling centers within the shutoff’s scope in case weather changes and the shut-off needs to happen earlier, Smith said. "But as of now, there's no expectation that we would need to do that, and there's nothing forecast until after in person voting would be over," he said around 3:30 p.m. PST.
A 5 p.m. PST press release from PG&E said that "At this time, PG&E has not received any reports of active power outages at any polling location in our service area. An outage was reported at a polling location in Santa Rosa, but the site backup generation and service was quickly restored. PG&E has dispatched an additional generator to that site."
A related viral claim said there were "7,000+ Polling Locations Potentially Affected," by the shut-off. But this isn’t true, either. PG&E provides electricity to more than 7,000 polling stations, but only a few of them fall within the potential shut-off area.
As for the claim that this shut-off would affect only Republican voters, in 2020 Joe Biden won all three counties within the scope of the shut-offs: Solano, Lake, and Santa Clara.
X users claimed that Pacific Gas & Electric Co. deliberately shut off power "on Republican voters" on Election Day.
A potential power shut-off, planned to prevent wildfires in high winds, might affect five California polling locations. But any shut-offs are forecast to come after polls close and polling centers have been provided with generators in case shut-offs happen.
This claim is False.
Our Sources
Jeff Smith, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. spokesperson, Nov. 5, 2024
Email Interview with John Gardner, Assistant Registrar of Voters in Solano County, Nov. 5, 2024
X post, (archived), Nov. 5, 2024
Pacific Gas & Electric Co., "Company Profile, accessed Nov. 5, 2024
California Public Utilities Commission, "Public Safety Power Shutoffs," accessed Nov. 5, 2024
Pacific Gas & Electric Co., "PG&E Alerts Customers of Potential Public Safety Power Shutoff," accessed Nov. 5, 2024
X post, Nov. 5, 2024
California secretary of state, "Section 3 – Polling Place Hours," accessed Nov. 5, 2024
Politico, "California Election Results 2020," accessed Nov. 5, 2024
Los Angeles Times, "Dangerous winds pummel California. Could power shutoffs affect voting across the state?," Nov. 4, 2024
KCRA, "MAP: Where PG&E could shut off power starting Election Day," Nov. 5, 2024
Pacific Gas & Electric Co., "PG&E Alerts Customers of Potential Public Safety Power Shutoff," accessed Nov. 5, 2024
Pacific Gas & Electric Co., "PG&E Outage Center - PSPS 7-Day Forecast," accessed Nov. 5, 2024
San Francisco Chronicle, "How PG&E’s planned outages will affect Bay Area’s 2024 Election Day," Nov. 4, 2024
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CA wildfire-related power shut-off expected after polls close, and stations have generators
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