SAN FRANCISCO (CN) – The California Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved PG&E’s expansive and costly wildfire prevention plan at its Thursday meeting, along with a set of guidelines to allow utilities to shut off power when fire risk is high.
“Given the changes we’re seeing in weather and changes that we’re seeing in fire fuels, nobody who lives in a wildfire hazard zones should count on a warning or should count on having reliable electricity,” commission president Michael Picker said, adding California is seeing unprecedented “ferocious winds” and other weather conditions unparalleled in state history.
Fire hazard areas covered by PG&E’s plan constitute more than half of its 70,000 square miles of service territory, Picker said, noting hazard areas will likely grow as more homes are built in fire zones.
“This is entirely new and we’re learning this as we go along in California. It’s challenging to come up with a system that works for everybody,” he said.
PG&E plans to spend $1.3 billion on tree removal and trimming vegetation around power lines, targeting the top ten species of hazardous trees like oak, pine, Douglas fir and eucalyptus. The utility will also ramp up wildfire inspections from 130 to 400 percent over last year at a cost of over $1.25 billion. Picker said the commission has concerns the new wildfire hazard inspections duplicate already approved routine inspections.
The utility will also shore up 150 miles power lines with insulated wire at a cost of $237 million, just a fragment of the 7,100 miles of uninsulated utility lines it needs to replace. If PG&E tried a system-wide hardening of its lines, Picker said, the “costs could be enormous.”
The plan is required by wide-ranging wildfire prevention legislation signed last year in response to a series of disastrous wildfires that swept Northern California. Senate Bill 901 doubled penalties for utilities found to be at fault for causing fires but also allows them to issue bonds to pay for the damages incurred from the fires and past the costs on to ratepayers.
Picker was quick to note the law explicitly says the commission’s approval of the wildfire prevention plans does not constitute approval of their costs, and that compliance with all or parts of the plan does not mean a utility acted prudently when it later seeks to recover costs.
Commissioner Clifford Rechtschaffen said he supported the plan because it imposes certain conditions on PG&E, like requiring it to provide the commission with updates on the effectiveness of its inspection program.
“PG&E also is required to explain how it will take advantage of skilled labor and other resources from state and local government departments to support its inspection work and other aspects of this wildfire mitigation plan. We’ve heard the continued refrain that PG&E lacks the sufficient work force to do everything it needs to do,” Rechtschaffen said.
He added PG&E will also be required to provide evidence of whether vegetation management can be reduced with system hardening, which could bring down costs. The utility must also update critical service producers with weather information.
“Public safety entities will know as much as possible and as much as PG&E knows,” he said.
The commission also unanimously approved plans submitted by Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas and Electric, Liberty Utilities/CalPeco Electric, Bear Valley Electric Service, Pacific Power, Trans Bay Cable, and NextEra Energy Transmission West.
While the commission also adopted guidelines for shutting off power in parts of the state during extremely hot, dry and windy conditions, members agreed blackouts should be used sparingly.
During public comment, disability advocates lined up to express dismay that prolonged power outages will imperil roughly 20% of disabled Californians, many of whom rely on refrigerated medications and life-sustaining medical equipment powered by electricity.
The concerns range from uncertainty about how people will be notified about planned outages to whether emergency services will be able to handle the inevitable flood of 911 calls.
“Most of our community, including myself, we use power for all activities of daily living,” said Peter Mendoza with the Marin Center for Independent Living. “I have for example some lifts at home that work by power so I can get in and out of bed and also leave my house. For those of us, particularly if it’s a prolonged power outage, we are going to have to call 911 for assistance. There is no money for local gov to handle increased calls for 911 service during a power outage.”
Richard Skaff with the nonprofit group Designing Accessible Communities said he spent four months trying to work with utilities on mitigation plans for power outages. “Instead what we have had is no response from the utilities including PG&E,” he said.
“We need you, the commission, to make decisions that will protect us from these mitigation efforts that PG&E and other utilities are using, mainly to protect their income. I have little faith that PG&E is using de-energization to protect the people that it supplies power to,” Skaff said.
Rechtschaffen said utilities should only shut off power in an emergency, as a last resort, and noted doing so carries its own safety and health risks. Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves agreed.
“This particular method of mitigation is a definite last resort option. I don’t think this is something that should be exercised loosely,” Aceves said, adding San Diego has been looking into a pilot program to give backup generators to those who need them. “More than anything, the utilities need to be focused on communicating with their local customers and local governments. It’s very concerning that some of our public comments said they haven’t been able to have that direct communication. It’s the responsibility of us to ensure that.”
Picker noted the Legislature ordered utilities to come up with plans to proactively cut off electricity during times of high fire danger.
“What’s become apparent in for the last couple of wildfire seasons in California is the public needs better information about fire conditions and how to prepare,” Picker said. “We must really take seriously the need to timely inform the public about both these weather events and potential for wildfire power shutoffs.”
He said he expects the wildfire mitigation plans will be refined over time.
“This is the first of many annual wildfire mitigation plan proceedings. They’ll improve each year as we learn what the best practices are,” Picker said. “We’re not going to solve this in one year.”
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