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PG&E cuts power to 59,000 because of weather
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pacific Gas & Electric implemented a controversial practice of cutting power to selected portions of Northern California on Saturday to guard against wildfires as the weather turned very windy, dry and hot.

Electricity was turned off around 6 a.m. to 1,600 customers in parts Napa, Solano and Yolo counties. Just as that shutdown was called off, the utility turned off power to 43,000 customers in Butte, Yuba, Nevada, El Dorado and Placer counties Saturday from 9 p.m. through Sunday morning.

 The outages did not involve transmission line shutdowns as PG&E has promised to do in San Joaquin County when anywhere along the major transmission line that cuts through the heart of Manteca have severe fire conditions form the valley to the high Sierra. When that transmission line is shut down power will go out to Stockton, Escalon, Tracy, Manteca, Lathrop and surrounding areas as well as part of Ripon. It will take a minimum of 48 hours to re-energize as lines and equipment would need to be checked.

Conditions ripe for fire — winds, low humidity, dry vegetation and heat — were expected to last into Sunday. The National Weather Service office reported a 71 mph (114 kph) gust on one peak in the region.

A fire that erupted late in the day in Yolo County was estimated at 100 acres; firefighters halted the spread of another after 25 acres burned northeast of Calistoga in Napa County. The causes were not immediately known.

PG&E is under pressure to prevent fire starts after downed power lines and other company equipment have been blamed for conflagrations that began during so-called fire weather.

But there has been opposition from customers who rely on electrically powered life-support equipment as well as businesses that have had to shut down for lack of power.

“We know how much our customers rely on electric service, and our decision tonight to turn off power is to protect our communities experiencing extreme fire danger,” Michael Lewis, PG&E’s senior vice president of electric operations, said in a statement Friday.

California experienced a very wet winter and spring, and even vast areas that were scorched earth after last year’s wildfires now have new head-high brush that is rapidly browning as summer approaches.

Several fires have broken out.

On Saturday afternoon, Yolo County issued mandatory evacuation orders for parts of Capay Valley, north of Guinda, a town of about 250 people, because of a fire nearby that covers about 2 square miles, KRON reported .

A grass fire Friday afternoon near the Solano County community of Fairfield forced people out of about 50 homes. But firefighters held it to 24 acres (10 hectares) without any structures lost and evacuations were lifted.

A wildfire near Interstate 5 in Stanislaus County grew to nearly 1 square mile (2.59 sq. kilometer). But it was 75 percent contained Saturday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The state’s electricity providers have been given authority to shut off power when fire risk is extremely high. The California Public Utilities Commission has said they must do a better job of educating and notifying the public, as well as increase fire prevention efforts such as clearing brush and installing fire-resistant poles.