PG&E Weekend Power Outage
(Public Safety Power Shutoff)
You may have heard that PG&E may be shutting off power in our area this weekend as part of their Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) program. We are also anticipating a significant wind storm that may bring down power lines and trees. The wind event and the proposed power shut off are projected to begin on
Saturday afternoon
. If the power is shut off, PG&E estimates that power will not be restored until late
Monday or Tuesday
.
PG&E will not know the time of the shut down or what areas will be impacted until
Saturday morning
. The Town of Hillsborough is working with Central County Fire Department and our neighboring cities in San Mateo County to pre-plan for this event. Our water tanks are full, the generators are fueled and we have staff scheduled to work the weekend for emergency response.
We would also like to encourage you to reduce your irrigation this weekend. This will help ensure that the Town maintains sufficient water in its water system. The Town has backup generators to help pump water uphill during power outages, but a sustained power outage during peak irrigation periods can pose additional challenges. Reducing irrigation over the weekend will help ensure that we have sufficient water in the water system in case of an emergency.
We would like to remind you to:
- Use only the water you need this weekend so our tanks remain at capacity for firefighting needs
- Be prepared to manually open gates and garages
- Remember that most security systems have a backup battery, but it only functions for a couple of hours
- Restock emergency supplies, flashlights, and charge phones (and backup batteries)
- Have a full tank of gas
- Prepare a cooler and ice for your perishable food
- Do NOT call 911 unless there is an emergency
- Stay informed by listening to the local news for updates on the PSPS
The Town of Hillsborough is preparing for the PSPS and we want you to be prepared as well. For more information, including PG&E contact info and outage statuses, please visit PG&E's PSPS pages at
www.pge.com/psps
and
www.prepareforpowerdown.com
.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RESOURCES:
- The County of San Mateo encourages residents to sign up for up-to-date emergency alerts through PG&E and SMC Alert (smcalert.info). Follow the County at twitter.com/sanmateoco and facebook.com/CountyofSanMateo.
- For potential facility or road closures in specific impacted jurisdictions, please visit those city or town websites.
- For traffic updates on the surrounding area, visit 511.org.
- For weather updates, visit the National Weather Service website at weather.gov.
- For information on air quality, visit the Bay Area Air Quality Management District website at baaqmd.gov and the San Mateo County Health Department website at smchealth.org.
- For food safety information, visit the Red Cross website at redcross.org.
