Pacific Gas & Electric Co. cut power to roughly 2,500 customers in Colusa and Glenn counties early Sunday as part of a public safety power shutoff aimed at reducing wildfire risk in the northern Sacramento Valley.

The outages began shortly before 6 a.m. and were expected to remain in effect until 11 p.m. Monday, according to PG&E outage data. Service restoration could take longer as crews inspect lines before re-energizing them.

PG&E reported 714 customers without power in Colusa County and 1,797 in Glenn County, affecting communities including Stonyford, Maxwell, Elk Creek, Orland, Artois and Willows.

The shutoffs were ordered as hot, dry and windy weather elevated fire danger across parts of Northern California.

The National Weather Service expanded a red flag warning early Saturday to cover the entire Central Valley from Redding to Bakersfield, including the Sacramento region, citing strong winds and very low humidity.

The warning is in effect from 5 a.m. Saturday through 8 p.m. Monday for the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, and adjacent foothills. That includes areas around Fresno, Modesto, Merced, Stockton and Chico, according to meteorologists.

PG&E uses public safety power shutoffs when forecasts call for conditions that could increase the likelihood of utility equipment sparking a wildfire. Factors include strong winds, low humidity, dry vegetation and National Weather Service fire warnings.

Customers can check outage status and sign up for alerts at pge.com/psps.

PG&E has relied on shutoffs since a series of catastrophic wildfires linked to its equipment, including the 2018 Camp Fire that destroyed much of Paradise and killed 85 people.

The utility said power will be restored only after crews inspect lines and confirm it is safe to re-energize the system.