Archives: FAQs

City Hall and Public Works have the ability to operate on generator power in the event of a PSPS.

As part of the PSPS plan and depending on the weather conditions, the City may activate its Emergency Operations Center to support life safety and critical infrastructure needs. All City employees are considered Disaster Service Workers and may be utilized in different capacities or different work schedules to support the needs of the City. For … Continued

A variety of impact our possible. These include an inability to conduct City business or support planned events. There will also be impacts to access ATM machines, purchase fuel, operate computers, use cell phones, access WIFI networks, or purchase any supplies with a debit of credit card The loss of power to HVAC units may … Continued

The City has multiple areas that fall within the elevated and high threat areas. In addition, areas outside of the high threat zones may be impacted because of the inter-dependency of the power grid. It is possible that shutting down power in Marin or Sonoma counties could impact the City of San Rafael because the … Continued

According to PG&E’s Public Safety Shutoff plan, PG&E will notify affected communities and first responders 48 hours in advance of the power shutoff when possible. When the City of San Rafael receives notification of a planned power shut down event, the City will work with the Marin County Office of Emergency Services to send out … Continued

It is expected that each power shutoff will last five to seven days. The total outage time will be the length of the weather event prompting the PSPS and the time it takes PG&E to restore the power. Restoration requires each line be visually inspected during day light hours, so this process could take days.

A Red Flag Day is when the National Weather Service issues a warning that there is an elevated risk of wildfire due to weather conditions. Generally, the weather conditions will have high heat over 90’F, humidity less than 20% RH, and wind speeds over 20 mph from the northeasterly direction.

The Public Safety Power Shutoff Plan is a set of guidelines and checklists that the City of San Rafael use to prepare and manage City operations during a power shutdown.