PG&E: The numbers behind more shut-offs

A year ago, we looked at the evolving strategy PG&E has for reducing wildfires by doing Less Trimming, shut-offs .... and more digging.  Just as last year, the Wall Street Journal is ahead of the local pack on reporting on results to date.  Here are a few snippets:

The California utility company has reported to state regulators 62 ignitions in high-threat fire areas so far this year, compared with 65 for the entirety of 2023, according to company executives. Twenty-nine of them occurred in recent weeks after an early July heat wave that set record temperatures throughout the state and dried out grasses and brush, making them more likely to catch on fire.

Most of the ignitions in recent weeks were caused by vegetation coming into contact with the company’s power lines. Most of the remainder occurred as a result of equipment failure and bird contact. None of the fires spread to become significant.  The company has since been relying more heavily on new power-line settings in areas at high risk of fire. The lines shut off within a 10th of a second when branches or other objects touch them, reducing the risk of sparks.

The task force is now evaluating those settings and the current ignition data to determine whether changes should be made. The company has in recent weeks been installing thousands of pole-mounted devices that detect when animals, objects or trees come into contact with the lines.

And yet it seems like trimming is still a major part of the mitigation plan.

PG&E has also been working to reduce the risk of fires spreading by removing flammable shrubs and brush within 10 feet of utility poles that historically haven’t been cleared. The company has about 190,000 poles that aren’t subject to clearance requirements. Though it isn’t required to, the company is working to clear about 50,000 of those poles in the highest-risk areas by Sept. 1. It has so far performed work on about 22,000 of them.

Having just completed my second day of homeowner defensible space work in Tahoe this summer, it's readily apparent this is a never-ending project.  One can only wish Sacramento would put more priority on this instead of the nonsense that passes for governing these days.

Comments

[Cassandra]

Adeline and Mills Canyon eucalyptus trees…

[Mom]

The situation is going to get worse with that beetle that is taking over the state. Maybe the politicians could worry about that instead of more housing?

[Joe]

Remind me again why I want only one option for power to my home and my EV-mandated car?

OAKLAND Hundreds of Pacific Gas & Electric customers in Walnut Creek and Oakland reported power outages Sunday afternoon, as an October heat wave pushed temperatures over 100 degrees in parts of the East Bay.

Early last week, PG&E had warned customers in 11 counties, including Alameda and Contra Costa counties, about potential planned shutoffs during this week due to gusty winds that increased fire danger. Alameda and Contra Costa counties were later removed from the list of counties that could be affected by the power shutoffs.

On Sunday, temperatures reached highs of 94 degrees in Oakland and San Francisco, 97 degrees in Fremont, 98 degrees in Walnut Creek and Lafayette, 99 degrees in San Jose and Danville, according to the National Weather Service.
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It is very anti-choice.

[Joe]

Grid-based batteries (i.e. on an industrial, utility scale) are not the perfect solution either:

Huge fire at Moss Landing battery plant spurs evacuations, road closures, sends out plumes of toxic smoke

The flames and smoke were smoldering early Friday

MOSS LANDING — Flames and smoke in the community of Moss Landing and the Elkhorn Slough area in northern Monterey County largely were just smoldering late Friday morning following a major fire at a battery storage plant that brought evacuations.

Fire Chief Joel Mendoza of the North County Fire Protection said at a Friday morning press conference said the fire had died down significantly by 8:30 a.m., down from its peak about 12 hours earlier.

The evacuations remained in place at 11 a.m. for about 1,200 residents, who were evacuated from areas of Moss Landing south of Elkhorn Slough, north of Molera Road and Monterey Dunes Way, and west of Castroville Boulevard and Elkhorn Road to the ocean.

[Spurrina]

Three Mile Island.

[Cassandra]

Keep that natural gas handy!