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San Andreas, CA – The Calaveras supes are considering a local disaster declaration in the wake of the most recent PG&E public safety power shutoffs.
According to the documents for Tuesday’s special meeting, County OES Director John Osbourn is recommending the action due to local impacts from two shutdowns the utility conducted due to increased wildfire risk weather events, which spanned from Oct. 23-31.
Osbourn surmises that the shutoff events, which lasted up to nine days for thousands of residents, affected substantial portions of county community operations, including critical public infrastructure and services.
He points out that the power-downs required the provision of additional public safety and emergency services, notwithstanding impaired response capability caused by the de-energization itself. The OES head maintains the shutdowns caused emergency conditions beyond the immediate capabilities of local resources, services, personnel, equipment, and facilities, causing ongoing financial and other implications for the county.
The initial de-energization affected most residents Oct. 23 with many not getting power restored until Oct. 31. The subsequent one affected fewer county areas but still a significant number, including some that remained without power from the first incident.
Tuesday’s special session begins at 1:30 p.m. in the supervisors’ chambers at the county government center (891 Mountain Ranch Rd.) in San Andreas.