Nipomo Braves Public Safety Power Shutoffs Keeping Campuses Open
NIPOMO, Calif. (KEYT) - PG&E expanded its Public Safety Power Shutoff into south San Luis Obispo county today.
This brings the total electricity shutoff to more than 8,600 customers in SLO county.
The safety shutoffs moved directly into rural and residential areas of Nipomo, impacting local schools, businesses and public facilities.
PG&E explained that while local winds may appear calm, main transmission lines feeding coastal and valley communities run through high fire-threat zones in surrounding rugged terrain.
“This is the true Santa Ana Winds, right?” says John Denno, Nipomo High School principal. “We've got the wind coming from inland out towards the shore versus the marine cool wind that we get off of the ocean.”
Affected school campuses include Nipomo High School, Central Coast New Tech High School and Nipomo Elementary School.
“We had a couple days of anticipation and we were very fortunate,” says Denno.
District officials informed parents that staff members were fully prepared to manage an unpowered school day safely.
“Our attendance is down slightly today,” says Denno. Not as significant as some may have anticipated. I think for a lot of our students, this is still a safe place to come. I think that they want to maintain their grades and attendance is important.”
Local businesses across Nipomo are facing varied logistical challenges, with many forced to rely on backup generators or temporarily close their doors.
But one local thrift store owner decided to make this part of their soft opening.
“They're saying it's going to take two days, you know, before it gets turned back on,” says Juliet Hurley, Juliet’s Family Thrift And Vintage owner. “So that's kind of a bummer because we're just starting to get things going. We thought we'd come over here, see what it's like if there was enough lighting. Open up the doors and then, give people an opportunity to do something besides staying in their house when it's all dark.”
The high-risk weather system driving the preventative shutoffs is expected to persist through Saturday.
“We actually went to hard copy attendance rosters, our teachers have alternative lesson plans,” says Denno. “It's a good way for us to disconnect sometimes to the technology we've become overly dependent upon.”
PG&E hopes to begin line inspections and power restoration by Saturday evening, though full service will not return until lines are physically cleared of potential debris.
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