Some PG&E customers in El Dorado County without power are outraged after learning they may have to wait until January 5 for power to be restored.

Other residents told Mountain Democrat that they had been informed by PG&E that the restoration of power may not take place until January 9 or 10.

Snow began to fall on Sunday and the inconvenience of outages from downed trees and power lines is being felt across the county. Emily Saad, 33, who initially received a notification that her electricity would be restored on December 31, lives with her 102-year-old grandmother, Emmeline Saad, with her mother and husband on Sand Ridge Road in South County , an area where 2,675 customers were affected on Wednesday, according to data from PG&E.

“For a 102-year-old woman, almost a 103-year-old woman, that’s pretty awkward,” Emmeline said. “Thank goodness I have my family and I am not on oxygen.”

Emily has lived in Placerville for 1 1/2 years. Emmeline moved from Ohio to live with Emily this summer.

“We feel really bad because it’s cold and we can’t make her comfortable 24/7,” Emily said. “She is coughing, she has breathing problems. So those are definitely exacerbated, but she does a great job of being a real soldier through it. “

Emily said if the generator is not on, Emmeline is bundled up in her room with lots of blankets and immediately walks past her heater when the power is on. AccuWeather reported a high of 39 degrees Fahrenheit in Placerville on Wednesday and the temperature could drop to as low as 26 degrees on Friday.

Emily estimates that at least a few inches of snow has fallen in her neighborhood. She said she spent around $ 40 a day on propane and gas to run her low-power generator for eight to 12 hours.

“We’ve had to constantly go out and buy more gas this week just to make sure we’re in stock,” Emily told Mountain Democrat.

While they are careful not to run the generator around the clock, the cost of running their generator until Jan. 5 will cost them around $ 400, assuming power is restored, Emily said.

“We wouldn’t be able to be as stingy as we are now if she was on oxygen,” she added. “In fact, my neighbors have told me that their propane tanks are probably going to run out before January 5th, but we only have a small portable (generator). “

Residents across the county are in similar situations.

About 18,300 PG&E customers in the county went without power on Thursday, according to the PG&E outage website, compared to 27,000 El Dorado County customers who lost power on Monday.

Residents of the Georgetown area say more than 20 inches of snow has fallen in parts of the ditch. Residents of Pollock Pines say they received more than 2 feet of snow.

In addition, felled trees and heavy snow made it difficult to travel around the county.

The Georgetown Fire Department on Tuesday reported felled trees, power lines and auto collisions on Highway 193 and Wentworth Springs Road and even got a local resident’s help with a tractor on Wednesday to clear a path while responding to a medical emergency on Forest View Drive.

The fire department reported two days of non-stop service calls.

The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office announced on Facebook that Sheriff John D’Agostini, acting as Director of Emergency Services, has signed a local emergency proclamation due to the storms, which is the first step in making state emergency funds available to El Dorado County for infrastructure repairs. .

Assembly Member Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) on Thursday called on Governor Gavin Newsom to deploy the National Guard to assist residents of El Dorado County without power, according to a press release from Kiley’s office.

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