About 250,000 California residents could be affected by a power outage this week

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About 250,000 California residents could be affected by a power outage this week.

(CNN) - The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) warned its customers in 19 counties in California that they could suffer power outages due to a strong wind at high seas.

Some 250,000 residents could be affected by a public power outage this week as winds increase on Wednesday morning and last until Thursday, according to a statement from the utility.

The affected areas are the foothills of Sierra, North Valley and North Bay. Other parts of the Bay Area are not expected to be included, according to the statement.

PG&E meteorologists are monitoring the natural event and are currently anticipating sustained winds of up to 40 kph (25 mph) and gusts between 50 and 80 kph and (30 and 50 mph). Fire alerts have been issued in the service area because the vegetation is extremely dry and temperatures are between 5 and 15 degrees above average, according to the statement.

The utility company began implementing service outages this fire season to mitigate fires caused by electrical equipment. The practice is to cut the electricity to avoid fires during strong winds and dry conditions.

PG&E serves some 5 million customers of electricity throughout the state and the continuous cuts have affected several areas so far in the fire season.

In October, PG&E cut the power supply to almost 800,000 customers in Northern California to reduce the risk of forest fires. The closure cost the city of San José at least half a million dollars.

PG&E announced that it had reached a $ 11 billion deal with claims insurance companies, derived from the devastating forest fires of 2017 and 2018 in Northern California during the month of September.

In June, the utility company paid $ 1 billion in damages to local governments for fires linked to its power lines, poles and other equipment.

These planned cuts could continue for a decade, PG&E chief executive Bill Johnson said during a meeting of the California Public Services Commission last month.

The company is working to notify residents 48 hours before a possible shutdown to give them time to prepare, according to the statement.

Chris Boyette, Dakin Andone and Faith Karimi of CNN contributed to this report.