PG&E cuts power to 500,000+ residents of California, 2M+ could be hit

PG&E is cutting power to hundreds of thousands of residents in California, in an effort to "prevent starting a wildfire with the windy and dry conditions projected in the weather forecast".

The power shutoffs could eventually hit millions of Californians, with 513,000 residents already without power after midnight on Wednesday. The power shutoffs could eventually extend to some of the most popular cities on California including Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside.

This move sees PG&E making the largest power shutdown for the company, ever -- with the company explaining its reasoning behind the power shutdown. Michael Lewis, PG&E's senior vice president of electric operations, explained: "The safety of our customers and the communities we serve is our most important responsibility, which is why PG&E has decided to turn power off to customers during this widespread, severe wind event. We understand the effects this event will have on our customers and appreciate the public's patience as we do what is necessary to keep our communities safe and reduce the risk of wildfire".

To find out if your area is affected, click into the story to read more.

At 12AM Wednesday, PG&E cut the power to 513,000 residents in 22 counties across California including:

• Amador
• Butte
• Calaveras
• Colusa
• El Dorado
• Glenn
• Humboldt
• Lake
• Marin
• Mendocino
• Napa
• Nevada
• Placer
• Plumas
• Shasta
• Sierra
• Solano
• Sonoma
• Tehama
• Trinity
• Yolo
• Yuba

In the second phase of the shutoffs, PG&E will flick the switch to 234,000 more residents that will include these counties:

• Alameda
• Alpine
• Contra Costa
• Mariposa
• San Joaquin
• San Mateo
• Santa Clara
• Santa Cruz
• Stanislaus
• Tuolumne

PG&E has said that it is also considering a third phase of power shutoffs, which will hit 42,000 customers or so in counties that would include Santa Barbara and Kern.