UPPER LAKE— Amid repeated power shutoffs, some residents of Lake County are finding their way to “resource centers” set up by Pacific Gas and Electric Company to take advantage of the electric power and internet available at those locations.
Upper Lake resident Phillip Rozier visited a PG&E customer resource center in his home town on Sunday night after first driving to Konocti Vista Casino earlier in the day. Rozier said he suffers from bad lungs and chronic asthma, conditions which have been exacerbated as a result of living in Lake County and dealing with poor air quality as a result of multiple fire emergencies since 2010.
“Last time there was no place to go,” he said. “But I was told that they had this center in Upper Lake. I didn’t know where to go, I was at Konocti this morning and they were very helpful and were able to tell me where to go.”
Rozier uses a nebulizer to help him breathe as a result of sleep apnea and aggravated breathing conditions. He also sleeps with the aid of a CPAC machine, which he said he can’t operate without power. Rozier said he travelled to the PG&E center Sunday to plug in his equipment. He said he needs treatment three times a day when the air quality is bad.
“I’ve had a lot of quiet times listening to generators,” he said, adding that he talked to his neighbors earlier in the day in regards to the worsening air quality in the area. He had nothing but praise for the PG&E employees assigned to run the community centers at both Konocti in Lakeport and in the Upper Lake area where he lives. “So far it’s been great,” he said. “Everyone has been really helpful.”
Power had been shut off by PG&E throughout Lake County since Saturday. By Sunday evening, PG&E crews had not yet started the re-inspection work necessary to return power to Lake County. With another potential shutoff on the horizon expected to begin Tuesday, it was unclear Sunday whether power would be restored in between the two events.
PG&E spokesperson Deanna Contreras said there were about 148 customers who visited all four PG&E Customer Resource Centers in Lake County on Sunday. One of them was 16-year-old Savannah Williams, a Lakeport resident who visited the Konocti location prior to noon time on Sunday to charge her electronic devices along with about a dozen other residents.
“One of the challenges is not having a way to contact our loved ones to let them know that we are OK,” Williams said, adding that the center in Lakeport was helpful because one was not available to her and her family during the previous blackout in early October.
Lake County Deputy Administrative Officer Matthew Rothstein reported out Monday morning following a conference call with PG&E and agency officials on the latest round of blackouts and the potential for further power shut-offs in the county.
Rothstein noted that an “all clear” had been given for PG&E to begin power re-energization work in Lake County throughout Monday, but it remained unclear at press time where power would be turned back on, and where it would remain off, ahead of an anticipated shutoff on Tuesday.
The following resource centers were slotted to be open Monday, and should PG&E shut down power again Tuesday, they may remain open into midweek:
Konocti Vista Casino
2755 Mission Rancheria Rd
Lakeport, CA 95453
Clearlake Senior Community Center
3245 Bowers Ave
Clearlake, CA 95422
Upper Lake Unified School District (Middle School)
725 Old Lucerne Rd
Upper Lake, CA 95485
(Ariel Carmona- Lake County Publishing)PG&E staffers help members of the public at a community resource center located at Upper Lake Unified School District (Middle School) Sunday.
