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Power Cuts in California Take Residents by Surprise

VOA News

   California power company Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) cut power
   Wednesday to millions of Californians due to high winds that could down
   power lines sparking wildfires.

   Utilities companies have warned for months that cutoffs were possible,
   but the power cut seems to have caught many by surprise.

   Twitter was buzzing with comments about the outage from consumers in
   the Northern California area. Many posted angry tweets about the power
   company's website, serving Northern and Central California, being down
   and making updates on the cuts inaccessible.

   While many East Coast residents have learned to cope with power outages
   from hurricanes, weather-related outages are a relatively new
   phenomenon in California.

   Where are the outages?

   PG&E began shutting off power Wednesday morning. Nearly 500,000 homes
   and businesses in Northern California were without power and by midday
   it expanded to parts of the Bay Area, including San Jose and Santa
   Cruz.

   Farther south, where Santa Ana winds weren't expected until early
   Thursday, Southern California Edison said it might cut power to more
   than 170,000 customers. It included more than 50,000 in northern Los
   Angeles County and nearly 20,449 in Ventura County.

   San Diego Gas &Electric also said it could cut power to nearly 30,000.

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