Service outages

Palisades residents flee the area as a wildfire erupts in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles, Monday, Oct. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Christian Monterrosa)
October 22, 2019 - 10:14 pm

Blackout Round 2? Californians brace for possible outage

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of California residents braced for another possible power outage as the state's two largest utilities warned that a return of dangerous fire weather could prompt shut-offs across the state. The warning from Pacific Gas & Electric about a possible...
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Women stand outside a house damaged by a tornado in the Preston Hollow section of Dallas, Monday, Oct. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
October 21, 2019 - 5:26 pm

Tornado slams Dallas; 4 killed in Arkansas, Oklahoma

DALLAS (AP) — A tornado tossed trees into homes, tore off storefronts and downed power lines but killed no one in a densely populated area of Dallas, leaving Mayor Eric Johnson to declare the city "very fortunate" to be assessing only property damage. A meteorologist said people took shelter thanks...
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Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) President and CEO Andy Vesey speaks during a California Public Utilities Commission meeting in San Francisco, Friday, Oct. 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
October 18, 2019 - 9:26 pm

California regulator slams PG&E over electricity shut-off

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California's top regulator excoriated top executives of the state's largest utility even as Pacific Gas & Electric repeatedly said they know they failed to meet public expectations when the company cut the power to more than 2 million people last week. Marybel Batjer,...
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Concerned residents try to stabilize the 55-foot sailboat Fearless, which was damaged after it washed into a wharf in Mattapoisett harbor due to strong overnight winds, Thursday morning, Oct. 17, 2019, in Mattapoisett, Mass. ( Peter Pereira/Standard Times via AP)
October 17, 2019 - 11:08 am

Heavy rains and winds cause power outages in the Northeast

BOSTON (AP) — A powerful autumn storm plunged hundreds of thousands of people into the dark, toppled trees, canceled schools and delayed trains Thursday in the Northeast. The nor'easter brought high winds and rain to the region Wednesday and Thursday. In Massachusetts, wind gusts reached as high as...
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FILE - In this Oct. 10, 2019, file photo, Pacific Gas & Electric employees work in the PG&E Emergency Operations Center in San Francisco. Experts say it’s hard to know what might have happened had the power stayed on, or if the utility’s proactive shutoffs are to thank for California’s mild fire season this year. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
October 14, 2019 - 11:48 pm

Do California power shutoffs work? Hard to know, experts say

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Millions of Californians spent part of the week in the dark in an unprecedented effort by the state's large electrical utilities to prevent another devastating wildfire. It was the fifth time Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has preemptively cut the power but by far the largest...
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FILE - In this July 23, 2019, file photo, Marybel Batjer, of the California Public Utilities Commission, speaks during a news conference as Gov. Gavin Newsom looks on in Sacramento, Calif. California's utility regulator is issuing a series of sanctions against Pacific Gas and Electric for what it calls "failures in execution" during the largest planned power shut-off in state history to avoid wildfires. Batjer said Monday, Oct. 14, 2019, the utility needs to have a goal of restoring power within 12 hours instead of its current 48 hours, minimize the scale of future outages and better communicate with the public and local officials. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
October 14, 2019 - 11:46 pm

California regulator criticizes utility over power outages

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California's top utility regulator blasted Pacific Gas and Electric on Monday for what she called "failures in execution" during the largest planned power outage in state history to avoid wildfires that she said, "created an unacceptable situation that should never be repeated...
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Salvador Espinosa sweeps in the kitchen of a Mary's Pizza Shack restaurant during a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. power shutdown in Santa Rosa, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019. More than 1.5 million people in Northern California were in the dark Thursday, most for a second day, after the state's biggest utility shut off electricity to many areas to prevent its equipment from sparking wildfires as strong winds sweep through the region. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat via AP)
October 12, 2019 - 12:13 am

California outages ease after wind, fire danger move south

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The lights were back on Friday for most of the nearly 2 million Northern California residents who lost electricity when the state's largest utility switched it off this week in an effort to prevent wildfires. The threat of widespread outages loomed in Southern California after...
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In this Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019 photo, firefighters check on homes in smoke from the Saddleridge fire in Sylmar, Calif. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)
October 11, 2019 - 9:54 pm

The Latest: Autopsy: Blackout did not kill California man

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Latest on the power shutoff involving California wildfires (all times local): 6:50 p.m. An autopsy has concluded that a planned power shutdown did not cause the death of a Northern California man who depends on oxygen equipment. The El Dorado Count Sheriff's office said...
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Super scoopers make drops on the Saddleridge fire in Placerita Canyon near Newhall, Calif., Friday, Oct. 11, 2019. (David Crane/The Orange County Register via AP)
October 11, 2019 - 5:08 pm

With warming, get used to blackouts to prevent wildfires

WASHINGTON (AP) — Expect more preventative power blackouts in California as the climate gets hotter and drier and the wildfire season gets nastier and longer, scientists say. The Golden State already is fire-prone with lots of dry plants and woodlands — but add high winds that can knock down power...
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Strong Santa Ana winds in Chatsworth, Calif., blew across power lines causing them to arc and transformers to explode. Power was out for street signs, businesses and residents along Devonshire St. from Topanga Canyon Blvd. to Variel Ave. on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019. (Dean Musgrove/The Orange County Register via AP)
AP Newsroom
October 10, 2019 - 11:18 pm

1.5 million Californians in the dark, most now for 2nd day

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Even as the winds gusted dangerously as forecast, California's biggest utility faced hostility and second-guessing Thursday for shutting off electricity to millions of people to prevent its equipment from sparking wildfires. Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized Pacific Gas & Electric...
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