DATE: Thursday, July 11
TIME: 7:00-8:30 PM
PLACE: City Council Chambers, San Rafael City Hall, 1400 Fifth Ave.
AGENDA: Preparation for Public Safety Power Shutoffs, Q & A
SPONSOR: Federation of San Rafael Neighborhoods
SPEAKERS:
Marin County Fire Chief Jason Weber
SR Fire Chief Chris Gray
Tom Jordan – County Office of Emergency Services
Quinn Gardner – SR Director of Emergency Services
ALSO IN ATTENDANCE: Mayor Phillips, Supervisors Connolly and Rodoni, PG&E Representative
As you likely have heard, PG&E is planning to closely monitor weather conditions during this fire season and plans to shut down electrical power to circuits in areas of high winds, high temperatures, and dry vegetation. Given their circuit architecture, these outages will likely affect broad areas – some not immediately experiencing the high risk weather conditions. This may include much of or all of Marin County.
Based on an analysis of last year’s conditions, we could expect to experience outages totaling up to 20 days, in groupings of 3-6 day stretches. While planning for electrical outages in our homes, there is a broader landscape to consider. What infrastructure is likely to be affected by these outages? Consider that traffic lights, gas stations, ATMs, internet service, cell phone towers, banks, grocery stores, drug stores, and many local businesses may be affected during an outage. Planning is currently underway at the County and City level, and should begin at the neighborhood level as well.