California utility company moving ahead with planned blackout; more than 2.8M may be affected

Fires and the threat of high winds prompted a California utility company to schedule a power shutdown Saturday afternoon.

A utility company in California is proceeding with a planned power shutoff Saturday because of concerns about increasing winds and fires in Northern California, authorities said. The shutdown will affect more than 2 million customers, KTLA reported.

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Pacific Gas & Electric said the planned shutoff will occur at 5 p.m. EDT in parts of 36 counties, The number of customers potentially impacted has risen from 850,000 to 940,000, SFGate reported.

This is a developing story.

The estimated number of total people impacted rose from 2.5 million to 2.8 million people, the website reported.