PG&E Nears Completion of Restoration Effort for Electric and Gas Customers

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–As its crews continued to respond to outages caused by the devastating
wildfires in Northern California, Pacific Gas and Electric Company
(PG&E) said Wednesday evening that it had safely restored 99 percent of
electric service to customers who are able to receive power. Gas service
has also been restored to approximately 80 percent of those able to
receive it.

Since the fires began, more than 353,000 customers who experienced
electric outages due to the wildfires have had their service restored.
As of Thursday morning, Oct. 19, the company expects that all but
approximately 2,800 customers who are able to receive electric service
will have been restored. These customers are in difficult-to-reach areas
with challenging terrain and/or PG&E is awaiting CAL FIRE’s approval to
access. PG&E expects to restore these remaining customers by Friday.

PG&E has restored 30,000 customers without gas service who are able to
receive it, or approximately 80 percent. PG&E crews have visited another
4,400 customer homes/businesses, but have been unable to gain access to
restore gas service. In addition, there are about 3,700 customers who
will be contacted for restoration and the company expects to reach
approximately 3,200 of them by Wednesday evening. PG&E will work to
complete restoration on Thursday and Friday as contact is made and
access is granted by the customers.

More than 4,300 PG&E employees and mutual-aid partners have worked
during this event to safely restore electric and gas service to
customers affected by the fires. PG&E has worked closely with CAL FIRE,
other agencies and first responders to be able to make the necessary
repairs as soon as safe access to fire zones was assured.

PG&E Corporation CEO and President Geisha Williams met with hundreds of
PG&E crew members and mutual aid workers early Wednesday morning at the
company’s basecamp at Rohnert Park near Santa Rosa. “Our primary focus
is the life safety and well-being of our customers and the communities
affected by these devastating wildfires. Our crews have been working
nonstop to get electric and gas service restored for our customers. We
are committed to a steadfast and strong presence in these communities as
we help them move forward to restore and rebuild. We’re in it for the
long haul,” said Williams.

PG&E has set up neighborhood answer centers at tables or pop-up tents in
affected areas to serve customers returning to their homes. Mobile
customer service teams are walking neighborhoods impacted by the fires
to offer assistance and gather information to address customer needs.

For customers seeking restoration and response information related to
the fires, the company has set up a dedicated web site at www.pgecommitment.com.

Electric Progress

• Since the fires began on Oct. 9, PG&E has been working to restore
  power to 359,000 affected customers.
• As of Wednesday evening, Oct. 18, PG&E had restored 99 percent of
  customers who can receive power.
• PG&E expects that all but 2,800 customers able to receive electric
  service will be restored by Thursday morning, Oct. 19. These customers
  are in hard-to-access or restricted areas. PG&E expects to restore the
  remaining customers throughout Thursday and Friday.

Gas Progress

• To protect customer and public safety, PG&E proactively turned off gas
  service to 42,000 customers.
• As of Wednesday evening, Oct. 18, approximately 30,000 customers who
  can receive service have been restored, or 80 percent.
• PG&E crews have visited the remaining 4,400 customers without gas
  service who can receive it, but were unable to gain access to the
  properties to restore service. PG&E will work to complete restoration
  as access is granted by the customers.
• In addition, there are about 3,700 customers who will be contacted for
  restoration and the company expects to reach approximately 3,200 of
  them by Wednesday evening.
• PG&E will work to complete restoration on Thursday and Friday as
  contact is made and access is granted by the customers.

Electric Restoration Process

• Once crews have been given permission to enter an area by CAL FIRE,
  PG&E crews begin the electric assess, repair and restoration process.
• Once safe, the first step is damage assessment. Typically, this occurs
  within 12 to 24 hours.
• PG&E workers will be on site to make the area safe by isolating
  electrical hazards. The next steps are equipment repairs and
  coordinated restoration.
• Based on needed repairs and time to compete work, an estimated time
  for restoration is established and communicated to customers.
• Prior to safely re-energizing homes and businesses, PG&E will inspect
  adjacent facilities and ensure locations are safe to receive power.
• Where safe to do so and access is allowed, restoring service will
  typically take 24-48 hours depending on the extent of damage and
  complexity of the work.
• Repopulation decisions to areas or neighborhoods are made by local law
  enforcement.

Gas Restoration Process

• Once crews have been given permission to enter an area by CAL FIRE,
  PG&E crews begin the gas restoration process.
• Once PG&E gains access to homes and businesses, gas crews check the
  meter. Then, PG&E works to identify structures that are safe to
  restore service and those that have sustained too much damage to
  safely restore service. Assessments begin immediately and typically
  occur within 24 hours of gaining access.
• Because gas service was turned off to customers, any air present in
  the pipeline system is purged to ensure that natural gas is safely
  delivered to every structure.
• Next, the system must be resupplied with gas and pressure tested to
  make sure it is safe.
• PG&E gas workers visit every home or business where gas may
  be safely restored to turn the meter on, purge the pipe within the
  structure, check for leaks and ensure every pilot light is relit for
  safe operation.
• Repopulation decisions to areas or neighborhoods are made by local law
  enforcement.
• Customers who are able to return home and do not have gas service
  should call PG&E at 1-800-743-5000 to schedule a relight. They should NOT
  attempt to relight their pilot lights themselves.

About PG&E

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E
Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas
and electric energy companies in the United States. Based in San
Francisco, with more than 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of
the nation’s cleanest energy to nearly 16 million people in Northern and
Central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com/
and www.pge.com/en/about/newsroom/index.page.

Contacts

PG&E Corporation
Media Relations, 415-973-5930