Aug. 25—Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) officials announced last week that Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) notifications will be provided via call, text and/or email at any time an outage may occur — a new feature of its regional service model.

According to utility officials, PG&E previously refrained from sending notifications between the hours of 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. as a courtesy to customers but, due to requirements from the California Public Utilities Commission, the policy has been updated.

"Moving forward, some PSPS notifications will now be sent to customers regardless of the time of day," said officials.

To discuss these changes, the utility will host a wildfire safety webinar for PG&E customers on Tuesday from 5:30-7 p.m.

According to officials, the PG&E team will discuss the utility's progress on wildfire prevention efforts and new changes this year, including increased powerline protection to reduce outages, improved coordination for faster restoration times and additional customer resources to prepare for wildfire season and power outages.

Those interested in attending the webinar can do so by visiting https://bit.ly/3SP2kJE or by calling 888-942-8391 and entering conference ID: 9706250.

PG&E will also be hosting a virtual town hall to share its regional approach to improving operations, which utility officials said bolsters safety and delivers better outcomes for customers in the North Valley and Sierra Region.

This webinar will be held Sept. 1 from 5:30-7 p.m.

During this town hall, utility customers will have the opportunity to meet PG&E's regional leadership team; hear about recent work; learn about wildfire prevention efforts, including safety outages; prepare for wildfire season with safety updates; provide feedback and ask questions of the local leadership team.

Closed captioning will be available in English, Spanish and Chinese and dial-in numbers will be available for those who aren't able to join online, according to PG&E officials.

To join the town hall, visit https://bit.ly/3A4jB98 call 669-444-9171 and enter conference ID: 865 7928 5704.

For additional information on how to join or more about PG&E's Community Wildfire Safety Program, visit www.pge.com/wildfiresafety.

More information and resources on how to stay safe in the event of an emergency, visit www.safetyactioncenter.pge.com.