California approves large power outages to prevent forest fires

May 31, 2019, 02:55 UTC

By Associated press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California authorities on Thursday approved the possibility for utilities to cut power to hundreds of thousands of customers to avoid catastrophic fires such as that caused by power lines last year that killed 85 people and largely destroyed the city of Paradise.

The utility's responsibility can reach billions of dollars and, after several years of devastating fires, they have asked the regulators to allow them to unplug the situation when the fire hazard was extremely high. This is mainly during periods of excessive winds and low humidity, when vegetation is dry and can ignite easily.

The California Public Utilities Commission has given the go-ahead, but said public services need to better inform and inform the public, especially people with disabilities and vulnerable people, and step up their prevention efforts, such as clearing and brushing. 39, installation of fire poles.

The plans could hinder hundreds of thousands of customers while endangering those who rely on electricity to keep them alive, like Kallithea Miller, 56.

Although she lives far from danger, near a shopping mall in Stockton, south of Sacramento, she sits on a refrigerator to cool her insulin and on a machine to keep her breathed at night. .

"I could die in my sleep," she said. "It scares me."

Precautionary failures could mean several days of power outages for cities as big as San Francisco and San Jose, the major electricity supplier in northern California said in a recent case filed with the public services commission.

Pacific Gas & Electric plans to cut off electricity only in "extremely hazardous weather conditions," while acknowledging that "there are security risks on both sides of this case," said the vice-president. President Aaron Johnson.

PG & E had originally planned to power off the power lines in risky rural areas, but has since expanded its plans to include high-voltage transmission lines such as the one that caused the country's deadliest fire for a century. The November fire killed 85 people and destroyed nearly 15,000 houses in and around Paradise.

"I know it bothers people, but it's a small price to pay for not having the kind of devastation we've had in Paradise," said Mayor Jody Jones. "Everyone I know at Paradise knew that PG & E could cut off food." I did not see this as a problem, the problem was that they had not really cut it off.

Community facilities have been blamed for the most destructive and deadly forest fires in California in recent years.

Other major California utilities have similar plans that commissioners unanimously approved on Thursday, also warning that blackouts could spread to cities under certain conditions.

"We are worried because we could see the power of people cut off for a day or two, but potentially a week," Governor Gavin Newsom said recently calling on California to spend $ 75 million to help communities get home. to prepare. "It's high winds, extreme weather, cut off electricity so it does not fire, it's a good thing – unless you're hit."

The three largest investor-owned Californian utilities serve more than 150,000 customers who rely on survival equipment, many of which are considered low-income, said Sen. Bill Dodd. The Democrat of Napa wants public services to provide emergency power or financial assistance so that high-risk customers can buy generators or batteries.

Older people, people with disabilities and language barriers, and the poorest residents in remote areas where transportation or communication is limited are also the most exposed. Mobile phone networks can fail, computers and internet phone lines are not working, traffic lights are shutting down and communication systems, water treatment facilities and service lines are not working. urgency can be problematic.

The public service representatives stated that they were doing their best to work with emergency responders and community groups to warn vulnerable clients, as required by the Service Commission. public.

"What the PUC can do is basically define the expectations of what the public services should do." Where everything is happening is the way public services operate, particularly in notification, "said Mark Toney, executive director of the Utility Reform Network.

The option of disconnecting is not new, although state officials expect it to be used much more frequently.

San Diego Gas & Electric has been authorized to cut power under high-risk conditions after its equipment triggered three major fires in 2007. Regulators have extended closure requirements to utilities owned by investors last year after devastating fires in 2017.

Once the power is turned off, utilities should inspect each line off before power is restored, keeping the lights off for days even after conditions improve.

Both PG & E and Southern California Edison used their new authority last fall; many residents and local officials were unhappy that stores, businesses and schools had to close for lack of electricity.

Calistoga Mayor Chris Canning said his town of 5200 in Napa Valley was the first to experience a PG & E power outage. "So we learned for ourselves how it was going – not well. ".

He cited poor communication, which officials said they wanted to improve, but congratulated PG & E for trying to keep the tide in key areas of the city during the next outage.

"They are damned if they do, and damned if they do not," Canning said. "We can not do more than a city to protect you, the inhabitants must be prepared."

Miller says her backup plan is a cat named Mojo who instinctively institutes her head every time she stops breathing.

"It puts us in a dangerous situation and a stressful situation," she said. "If they have a power outage that lasts five days, I'm screwed up."