Dear Colleagues,
As of this message, the Lab is preparing for another Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) event at its main site. PG&E has issued a PSPS Watch for our area, which includes the Lab, for Wednesday, Nov. 20 starting as early as 6:00 a.m. and running through Thursday, Nov. 21. The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning from Tuesday night, Nov. 19 to Thursday morning, Nov. 21 for the North Bay Mountains and East Bay Hills. Other Lab sites are not expected to be impacted by this possible PSPS.
We are expecting an update from PG&E tomorrow morning. While we wait for the notification, please take the following steps:
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ALDs, Division Directors, and appropriate members of line management should begin necessary efforts to prepare for a potential power outage including notifying users, guest house visitors, and appropriate emergency-essential personnel.
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In addition, for those who do not need to be on-site at the Lab, please encourage your staff to work with their supervisor for an alternate work location for Tuesday, November 19.
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Tomorrow the Lab will work with the user facilities to establish the best path forward for shutting down operations in the event of a PSPS.
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Come to work tomorrow morning prepared to shut down operations and make research equipment safe and stable. If we receive confirmation of a power shut down, the Lab will close at 3:00 p.m. Please refer to the Laboratory Safety Guidance in Preparation for a Scheduled Power Shutdown for further information.
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Emergency Management Team members should be on heightened alert for recall. A duty schedule is being established; please work with Rhett Persaud on your assignment. If confirmation of a PSPS event is received from PG&E, the Emergency Operations Center will convene at noon Tuesday, Nov. 19 in Building 76.
We will update the Lab community when we learn more from PG&E and will post any updates we may receive to status.lbl.gov.
The Lab’s Security and Emergency Services Division will continue to monitor the situation and will provide updates as information becomes available For more information check status.lbl.gov, follow us @LBNLstatus, and call 1-800-445-5830.
Michael Brandt
Deputy Director, Operations and
Chief Operating Officer