Energy & Science
Blackouts Tied to Wildfires Are Spreading Beyond California
- Oregon utility cuts power to 5,000 customers to curb fire risk
- First preventative outage by a utility outside California
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It’s no longer just California shutting off power in high-risk fire zones.
Oregon’s Portland General Electric Co. on Monday temporarily turned off power for about 5,000 customers near Mt. Hood -- a move it described as a “last resort” as dry winds threatened to take down power lines and ignite fires. It’s the first time such a public-safety shutoff has happened outside the Golden State, according to Michael Wara, director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at Stanford University.