The city’s preferred option is a single 12‑hour outage supported by backup generation. Designed by Freepik, www.freepik.com

GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - Gridley officials are warning residents to prepare for a citywide power outage in mid‑December as negotiations continue with Pacific Gas and Electric on timing and backup generation.

At Monday’s Gridley City Council meeting, City Administrator Elisa Arteaga said PG&E crews need about 12 hours to complete maintenance on a line that has not been serviced in decades.

“This line hasn’t been worked on for over 20 years,” Arteaga said. “It needs to be maintained because if this ever does go down, we’re going to be without power and won’t have time to plan for backup generation.”

The city’s preferred option is a single 12‑hour outage supported by backup generation, depending on the cost. Another possibility is breaking the work into four‑hour blocks, with the first on Dec. 18 or Dec. 22 and the remaining sessions scheduled later. The worst scenario would be a four‑hour block without backup generation, leaving the entire city in the dark, except for water and sewer services that have their own backup. 

“You don’t want to do 12 hours without generation,” Arteaga said. “That would not work.”

School officials urged PG&E and the city to schedule line maintenance during the holiday break, preferably beginning Dec. 22, to avoid heating, food service and communication issues during class time, or limiting daytime outages to between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. to reduce impact.

City officials said residents and businesses will continue to be notified about the planned outage through text alerts, phone calls, social media and door hangers. 

“Our main thing is the safety of the residents, the community, the effects on businesses and health care,” Arteaga said. “Safety is of the utmost importance.”

Officials recommend residents prepare for an outage and adhere to basic safety measures during the outage. They advised using flashlights instead of candles to avoid fire hazards, keeping refrigerator and freezer doors closed to preserve food, and unplugging sensitive electronics to prevent damage when power is restored. Generators should never be used indoors and must be placed outside with proper ventilation. Residents who rely on medical devices are urged to ensure backup batteries or alternate power sources are available.

The City Council on Monday authorized Arteaga to continue negotiations with PG&E on the dates and timing of the outage, including whether the work will be completed in one 12-hour day with backup generation or broken into shorter blocks.