Virus-Hit California Girds for ‘Long and Difficult’ Fire Season

Utilities across California came under criticism last year as millions were plunged into darkness during planned outages to prevent wildfires.

Now comes the 2020 wildfire season, which brings higher fire risk and the added complication of a worldwide pandemic.

A heat wave that began over the weekend also led to rolling blackouts and prompted an investigation by the state. PG&E Corp., the state’s largest utility, has been able to order only a fraction of the portable generators it may need for medical customers reliant on power because of supply chain backlogs related to the coronavirus.

Other utilities, like Sempra Energy’s ...