PG&E begins Bay Area power shutoffs, scheduled in 3 counties through Saturday to prevent wildfires
The counties that could be impacted are Alameda, Contra Costa and Santa Clara
CONCORD, Calif. (KGO) -- PG&E has turned off power in parts of the East Bay due to increasing fire danger, as other parts of the Bay Area could face outages in the coming days.
The "Public Safety Power Shutoff" started Thursday morning in a small area near the Concord Pavilion, and according to the PG&E map, there are now shutoffs near Tracy and Livermore.
PREVIOUS: PG&E warns of possible power shutoffs for parts of Bay Area through Saturday to prevent wildfires
The alert for potential public safety power shutoffs is through Saturday in Contra Costa, Alameda, and Santa Clara counties. The shutoffs could potentially impact about 1,000 customers.
In years past, these public safety power shutoffs used to impact large areas of the Bay Area but now, PG&E says it's working to minimize the impacts to customers.
It says this is precautionary and that all of this is considered because of high winds and dry conditions.
MORE: What you can do right now to prepare for a PG&E power shut down
"Things like dry conditions, windy conditions, vegetation on the ground that make us really concerned about the possibility of a catastrophic wildfire," PG&E spokesperson Tamar Sarkissian said. "So if we see enough of those factors come together, we will turn off the power proactively."
In the counties facing public safety power shutoffs, around 650 in Alameda County could be affected, 275 in Contra Costa County and about 50 in Santa Clara County.
