Northern California is bracing for more power outages after Pacific Gas & Electric started notifying customers that it may turn off electricity Wednesday because of strong winds that could spark wildfires.
The latest planned blackout is expected to affect 660,000 people in parts of 22 counties, including the San Francisco suburbs, Sierra Nevada foothills and wine country.
The notices Monday come as California lawmakers prepare to grill PG&E officials at a hearing over massive outages last month, including one that affected nearly 2.5 million people.
Local officials and customers said the utility botched communications and the outages meant to prevent electrical equipment from igniting fires were too broad.
California regulators have ordered PG&E to say why it should not be sanctioned for violating state rules regarding such shutoffs. (AP)
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