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.

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

This is a developing story.