Alameda County may experience another PG&E Public Safety Power Shutoff this weekend, beginning Saturday and ending Monday, according to a tweet posted by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday evening.
The outage is anticipated to begin at 5 p.m. Saturday and continue until 2 p.m. Monday, with about 57,000 customers affected, according to the tweet.
An Alameda County Nixle alert sent Friday warned that heavy winds and high fire danger conditions are anticipated to last through Monday. Should the PG&E outage affect a customer, they could be without power for up to five days through Thursday, according to the alert.
The outage could impact an estimated 7,000 Berkeley customers and approximately 21,000 residents, according to a statement from Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín.
UC Berkeley’s campus will likely be affected by the outage beginning Saturday afternoon, according to a campuswide email sent Friday by Alicia Johnson, the director of the UC Berkeley Office of Emergency Management. The campus moved to its backup cogeneration plant Saturday at noon, and all classes after noon on Saturday have been canceled, the email said.
The email warned the campus community to stay away from campus buildings while the cogeneration plant is in use, as an overuse of electricity could trip the plant, according to the email. All indoor events on Saturday after noon and all day Sunday have also been canceled.
Residence halls and dining rooms including Maximino Martinez Commons, Units 1, 2, 3, Cafe 3, Foothill and Crossroads will all have power through the weekend. The Clark Kerr Campus and Blackwell Hall, however, are attached to city power sources and could lose power if the city does.
An announcement will be made Sunday morning regarding whether classes will be canceled Monday, according to another campuswide email sent Saturday. The email said PG&E will open a resource center for the community in the Clark Kerr Campus’ south parking lot on Sunday. The resource center will be open from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. to provide water, snacks, flashlights, LED lights and a place to charge phones.
The Tang Center will be open for students to charge medical equipment or medical devices, as well as to refrigerate medication, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Unit 3 will also be open for charging Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Check back for updates.