By Eli Walsh. Bay City News.
East Palo Alto's deputy mayor called on Pacific Gas and Electric Thursday to upgrade its infrastructure as some peninsula residents have been without power for two days due to high winds and downed power lines.
More than 60,000 PG&E customers in San Mateo County have been affected by power outages caused by high winds earlier this week, making San Mateo the hardest-hit county in the Bay Area.
According to East Palo Alto Deputy Mayor Antonio Lopez, some homes in the city have been without power since 1 p.m. Tuesday.
PG&E has expressed optimism that power could be restored by 10 p.m. Thursday, according to state Sen. Josh Becker, D-San Mateo, but some are still in the dark for now.
Lopez and Becker also chided the utility company for not properly communicating about the ongoing outages.
“Many of our residents have called the city to ask us, when is the power going to come on?” Lopez said at a virtual news conference Thursday afternoon.
«Access the? website? from PG&E and depending on where you live, it could be anywhere from 3 pm today, to 11 pm tonight, to 11 pm the next day," he said. "So for us on the ground, it's hard to find a rhyme or a reason for when and how power will come back on."
Lopez and Becker noted that many residents without power have medical conditions or equipment that requires power or don't have hot water.
The county is also expected to see overnight low temperatures as low as 30 degrees. Given that, the two officials said it is imperative that residents get their power back as soon as possible.
Becker added that the county faced flooding and power problems less than two months ago during storms that battered the Bay Area for most of January.
"I know there are teams that are working very hard, and I'm not here to criticize people who are working 24/7 to try to fix this... but sometimes it seems like our infrastructure is more than 1923 than 2023 and it just doesn't feel acceptable that we have to go through this," he stressed.
Power outages in other parts of San Mateo County halted traffic in Menlo Park for most of Thursday afternoon as PG&E crews worked to replace a power line along US 101 that was damaged by a Fallen tree.
The highway was closed in both directions after 1 p.m. and reopened around 5 p.m., according to the utility company.
PG&E has brought an additional 20 crews to the peninsula in an effort to repair downed power lines, clear downed trees, and expedite power restoration throughout San Mateo County.
According to Menlo Park officials, the city received 27 calls about downed trees and 46 calls about broken tree limbs between 1 p.m. Tuesday and 4 p.m. Wednesday.
According to PG&E, repairs and replacement of existing power lines are further complicated by snow in low-lying areas of the Bay Area that is snapping trees that don't usually get snow.
"When that happens, the tree can fall on a power line and knock it over and also damage the poles," explained Jan Nimick, PG&E's vice president of power generation. “Very often, repairs are complex because there is a lot of serious damage to our equipment, and repairs can also be complicated by access issues.”
Bay Area residents are encouraged to visit pge.com/stormsafety for tips on preparing for cold and stormy weather events.
Those in Menlo Park who remain without power can contact the City Manager's office at (650) 330-6610 by 8 p.m. Thursday to request an overnight hotel stay.
Residents may also request hotel stay information in person at the Belle Haven Library Branch before 8:00 PM.
Requests for overnight hotel stays can be made to swstotle@menlopark.gov by 8:00 p.m. on Thursday. Residents should include "Request to Stay at a Hotel During Power Outage" in the subject line of the email.
PG&E's outage map can be found at https://pgealerts.alerts.pge.com/outagecenter.
San Mateo County information on this week's storms, cold weather and wind events can be found at https://www.smcgov.org/ceo/county-storm-related-emergency-information.
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