For California, massive power blackouts could become a way of life. nbcnews.to/2BE2iht (1/7)
Hundreds of thousands of residents of Northern California, whose power will be shut off in the next 2 days got even worse news Wednesday: Another, even larger, blackout is likely over the weekend, says the state's largest utility, Pacific Gas and Electric Corp., or PG&E. (2/7)
PG&E says hot, dry winds and low humidity were creating a high risk of sparks and "rapid wildfire spread" from its long-neglected power lines. (3/7) 
The blackouts will eventually spread to parts of 17 counties — including such large communities as Santa Rosa, Sonoma and Napa but not San Francisco or San Jose, PG&E says. (4/7)
"The fire risk has grown exponentially, particularly in this region, in the last couple of years," says Bill Johnson, the company's chief executive. "As late as 2017, many people didn't think the risk was high in Northern California. The risk really accelerated." (5/7)
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo says that the difficulties facing PG&E are so daunting that he wants to pull the city — the state's third largest, with more than 1 million residents — out of the system, with the goal of setting up the city's own electric utility. (6/7)
That's the only way to "ensure the distribution of local generation and storage of energy," Mayor Liccardo said at a news conference Wednesday. (7/7) #NBCNewsThreads
