Power Shutoff Coming This Weekend

Corte Madera residents:

While we have been lucky up until this point, PG&E has just confirmed that Corte Madera will be included in their next Public Safety Power Shutoff. The shutoff event is expected to begin tomorrow between 1 and 5 pm and last more than 48 hours, with full countywide restoration not expected until later next week.

In preparation for this shutoff event, there are some steps you should take to ensure your safety and minimize the impact to your daily life.

First, to stay informed, sign up for updates from the Marin County Sheriff through Alert Marin, and from the Central Marin Police Authority through the NIXLE system.

If you rely on electric medical devices or on medicine that must be kept refrigerated, please make yourself known to PG&E and the Town. If you have not already, please ensure that you have a plan in place for how to cope with the power shutoff.

It is recommended that you charge all mobile devices before the shutoff begins. You may also wish to purchase a generator to power your critical devices, or a solar charger for your phone.

During the shutoff, Town Hall and the Community Center will remain open for public use during the day, and the Community Room at the Central Marin Police headquarters will be open 24/7. Chevron has generators and will remain open to assist you.

I do not take the burden we are being asked to endure lightly. While the risk of fire is now too advanced to do anything other than shut off the power, it is important to acknowledge how we got here: through decades of deferred maintenance by PG&E, even as the state agencies that were supposed to be regulating them failed to intervene.

Safety is our number one priority, but it is also important that local communities hold both PG&E and state regulators accountable. In the coming weeks I will be working with other cities and counties throughout PG&E’s service area to make sure the State hears us clearly: Californians are being asked to shoulder the burden of PG&E’s irresponsible business practices allowed by the State, and it’s not right.

I will be providing more information about the Shutoff event and my efforts to form a regional response as the situation develops.

Thank you, and stay safe.