In addition to PG&E’s recently announced plan to bury 10,000 miles of power lines underground in areas with the highest fire threat, other measures have been taken
The company today submitted an electrical accident report related to Feihuo, and Feihuo was replaced by Dixie Huo two days after it started.
SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Almost all areas in California are experiencing extreme or abnormal drought conditions, and the peak of the traditional wildfire season has begun early, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced today A series of additional safety measures. In addition to the 2021 community wildfire safety plan and the 2021 wildfire mitigation plan, the company is also committed to helping deal with the increasing threat of wildfires in many areas of its service area.
In addition, PG&E today submitted an electrical incident report (EIR) related to the flying fire in Plumas County to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). Fly Fire was surpassed by Dixie Fire about two days after it started on July 22, 2021.
“We thank CAL FIRE, the U.S. Forest Service, and other first responders for their heroic efforts to extinguish these fires and protect lives and property. We will work tirelessly to prevent our equipment from catching fire. We recently announced the burying of 10,000 miles of overhead power lines. The underground plan will greatly reduce the risks we face in the next few years. Today, we are outlining additional security actions to deal with the real and ever-changing wildfire threats that exist today,” said Patty Po, CEO of PG&E. Said Patti Poppe.
According to data from the United States Drought Monitoring Agency, 85% of California is now in the extreme drought category. Northern Sierra Leone has experienced the second driest biennium in nearly 50 years, with rainfall and snow being only about half of normal. Today, more than 50% of PG&E’s northern and central California service areas are now considered part of a high fire threat zone (HFTD), and all land is located in these drought-affected areas.
“The fires we saw this summer were not wind-driven events that we usually see in the fall; they were mainly dry fuel-driven events. The effects of climate change have led to more frequent heat waves, extreme droughts, and millions of dead and dying trees. Trees, thereby increasing the risk of wildfires. This is not just in California. It occurs in the west, from British Columbia to Arizona and in between,” said Scott Strenfel, director of meteorology at PG&E.
Due to the intensified drought conditions, including extremely dry fuel conditions and the acceptability of these fuels to ignite and spread quickly even in the absence of high winds, PG&E is taking additional measures to further reduce the possibility of equipment-induced wildfires.
“We are learning from other utilities and leaders in the United States and other continents who are responding to this threat, and are using new technologies, better data analysis, stronger equipment and more tree pruning to reduce the risk of wildfires. We are Our 2021 wildfire mitigation plan goals are being achieved, and more measures are being taken to manage extreme drought and fuel conditions. These actions will help ensure the safety of our customers and communities,” PG&E Senior Vice President and Chief Risk Officer Sumeet Singh said.
These additional security enhancements are atypical and are in response to the current historical drought conditions.
PG&E recently announced a major new initiative to expand the undergroundization of distribution lines in HFTD to further strengthen its system and help prevent wildfires.
The new infrastructure security plan is a multi-year effort to bury approximately 10,000 miles of power lines underground. As PG&E performs further project scoping and inspections, estimates, and engineering reviews, the exact number of underground projects or miles carried out through PG&E’s newly expanded underground mining program will continue to change each year.
PG&E’s commitment represents America’s greatest effort to use underground power lines as a measure to reduce the risk of wildfires.
In addition to significantly reducing the risk of wildfires, undergroundization can also reduce the need for public safety power shutdowns, thereby benefiting customers. In dry and windy conditions, this is known as the last resort to reduce vegetation contact with live lines and Risk of wildfires. The underground project also reduces the need for vegetation management work, thereby keeping more California trees in their original condition.
Today, PG&E assisted the US Forest Service (USFS), which is investigating the cause of the flying fire, to move and inspect a tree on the body of a PG&E commander at a location off Highway 70 in Plumas County. The USFS investigation is continuing, and PG&E is cooperating. The investigation is at a preliminary stage and the reasons have not yet been announced.
According to the USFS website, it is reported that Fly Fire started burning around 5:15 pm on July 22, 2021, burning about 4,000 acres, and then was overtaken by Dixie Fire 48 hours later. PG&E discussed this further. The most recent 10-Q form was submitted on July 29, 2021.
PG&E’s multi-faceted community wildfire safety plan includes immediate and long-term action plans to further reduce the risk of wildfires and ensure the safety of its customers and communities.
As stated in PG&E’s 2021 Wildfire Mitigation Plan, in addition to significantly expanding underground projects, PG&E is continuing to carry out safety work in a risk-based and data-driven manner to enhance grid resilience and respond to increasingly severe weather and wildfire threats.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG), is an integrated natural gas and electric company serving more than 16 million people covering 70,000 square miles in northern and central California. For more information, please visit pge.com and pge.com/news.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are not historical facts, including statements about PG&E Corporation and PG&E’s beliefs, expectations, estimates, future plans and strategies, including but not limited to abnormal drought conditions and increasing wildfire risks, and wildfire safety PG&E Mitigation measures expected to be taken. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions deemed reasonable by management and information currently available to management, but they are bound to be affected by various risks and uncertainties. In addition to the risk that these assumptions may prove to be inaccurate, factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those envisaged in the forward-looking statements include factors disclosed in the joint annual report of PG&E Corporation and the utility company on Form 10-K. The latest quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the year ended December 31, 2020, the quarter ended June 30, 2021, and other reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are available on the PG&E Corporation website www.pgecorp. Available on com and on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission website www.sec.gov. PG&E Corporation and PG&E assume no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements due to new information, future events or other reasons, except to the extent required by law.
Post time: Aug-06-2021
