About 6,000 utility customers remained without electricity Tuesday evening in Northern California after Pacific Gas & Electric cut power over the weekend in a pre-emptive bid to prevent wildfires in high winds and dry weather.
PG&E said it expected to restore power to all the affected customers throughout the day. About 120 of those without power were in Napa County.
PG&E said it has to inspect power lines before turning the power back on. The utility had 150 crews spread over five counties inspecting the lines Tuesday.
"We have to physically walk the line to see if there’s any damage before we turn any of that technology back on," a PG&E spokesperson said.
It was the first time PG&E preemptively cut power. It previously announced the plan after authorities blamed its power lines for sparking some of California's most destructive blazes.
Calistoga Mayor Chris Channing said his city wasn't on the high-risk map and yet power was still disconnected. Regardless, he said the delay in power restoration makes it all the more frustrating for residents and merchants.
"I understand it was the first time through this rodeo, but they have colleagues in another part of the state not so far away where they could kinda get some best practices and ideas from," Channing said about PG&E.
The utility expects to pay billions of dollars in wildfire damages and has sought ways to limit its liability through the courts and Legislature.
PG&E began restoring power to the 60,000 affected customers on Monday after winds died down and wildfire risks eased.
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Most of the customers who were still without power are in the Sierra Nevada foothills east of Sacramento.
NBC Bay Area's Mark Matthews contributed to this report.
