FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — Public power shutoffs are already underway in parts of Northern California&E officials say they are closely monitoring the winds in Central California and weighing whether to shut off power.

“We could lose power around 2 a.m. Friday morning and have it restored by 4 p.m. Sunday,” Kris Hamilton said.

She is one of thousands of PGs&E customers could lose power early Friday morning as strong winds blow through parts of California.

The warnings affect 20,000 customers in 24 counties, including parts of Fresno, Madera, Merced and Mariposa counties.

Hamilton’s North Fork home is in the potential outage zone.

“When the power goes out, most of us are connected to wells, and that’s especially dangerous when there’s a fire because you don’t have water,” Hamilton said.

Utility officials say there is a risk of shutdowns during dry conditions in foothill and mountain communities, and the risk of fires increases as live power lines fall in the wind.

“We will turn off the power to prevent a tree from falling into a line or when a wire touches the ground to prevent forest fires,” PGKari Chester, acting regional vice president of &E, said.

Chester said company officials will decide to trigger shutdowns if winds exceed 30 mph or gusts exceed 30 to 40 mph.

“The winds will pick up later (Thursday and) really into Friday morning,” Action News AM Live meteorologist Christine Gregory predicted. “Particularly on the west side of the valley toward Mendota (and) Los Banos, gusts of up to 30-40 miles per hour could be observed, particularly toward the foothill communities.”

State regulators have previously fined PG&E for policy violations and botched security shutdowns in 2019 that left millions in the dark.

PG&E officials say they are aware of the inconveniences posed by the closures, but say they are far less catastrophic than wildfires.

Hamilton agrees. Her house burned in the 2017 Mission fire.

“Until the rainy season starts, we’re all still in a bind, especially because we don’t have a staffed fire station,” Hamilton said.

For customers experiencing power outages, Community Resource Centers in Oakhurst, North Fork and Auberry provide water, snacks and charging ports for appliances and medical equipment.