Classes were cancelled and lab work postponed at the University of California, Berkeley, today (October 9) as the Pacific Gas and Electric Company scheduled a power shutdown to parts of campus to guard against potential wildfires in the area. UC Berkeley’s power lines are fed by transformers in the East Bay hills, which were placed under a red flag alert for extreme wildfire danger starting Wednesday at 5 am. The campus is open with limited service, according to a press release. The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a Department of Energy lab next to UC Berkeley where some of the university’s researchers have lab space, is also temporarily closing.
The outage is a preventive measure by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) due to expected high winds that could cause wildfires by knocking down live power lines. The utility company has stated the shutdown could last for as long as five days, ...
