Wildfire lessons learned: California energy companies now cut power ahead of wind storms
07 October 2019
Published by https://komonews.com
USA – FILE- in this Dec. 3, 2018, file photo, homes leveled by the Camp Fire line the Ridgewood Mobile Home Park retirement community in Paradise, Calif. As California counties face the prospect of increased utility power shut-off meant to prevent wildfires, counties with more resources are adapting much more easily to the challenge than poorer ones. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)
After two deadly wildfires struck Northern California in back to back years, power companies in the region are now taking a proactive step in hoping to prevent future fires by turning the power off when the winds are forecast to blow.
Both the Camp Fire, which struck in 2018 and killed 86 people in Butte County, and the Tubbs Fire which killed 22 in Sonoma County in 2017, were caused when strong winds knocked over electrical equipment, triggering blazes that instantly exploded in size and raced across the region, fueled by the raging Diablo winds.
In the wake of those fires, PG&E has implemented a “Public Safety Power Shutoff” procedure, where they will preemptively turn off the power to regions when strong winds are forecast in addition to extreme dry conditions, thus preventing any electrical-spark driven wildfires.
“PG&E carefully reviews a combination of many criteria when determining if power should be turned off for safety,” the power company writes on their web page explaining the new PSPS system. “These factors generally include, but are not limited to:
- A Red Flag Warning declared by the National Weather Service
- Low humidity levels, generally 20 percent and below
- Forecasted sustained winds generally above 25 mph and wind gusts in excess of approximately 45 mph, depending on location and site-specific conditions such as temperature, terrain and local climate
- Condition of dry fuel on the ground and live vegetation (moisture content)
- On-the-ground, real-time observations from PG&E’s Wildfire Safety Operations Center and field crews”
The region has been carved into 9 zones where PG&E crews and meteorologists monitor both weather and wildfire risk conditions. They will then put out a forecast stretching out 6 days indicating whether each region has a risk of these preventative power outages. Advisories range from “Elevated” risk to a “PSPS Watch” – meaning conditions are favorable for potentially needing to turn off the power ahead of the storm, to “PSPS Warning” meaning preemptive power outages are probable.
It’s all displayed on a handy web page that gives residents as much lead time as possible to prepare for power outages.
FILE — A snapshot of a forecast valid from Monday, Oct. 7, 2019 showing potential for preemptive power outages in Northern California ahead of an expected windstorm later in the week. (Photo: PG&E) ** This image is for graphical illustrations only; a more current forecast may be found on the PG&E Web page **
MORE | CURRENT CONDITIONS from PG&E
Sure enough, later this week conditions are looking favorable for a very strong Diablo wind event in parts of northern California and as of this blog’s publish time Monday afternoon, PG&E crews have issued PSPS Watches for several zones for Wednesday and Thursday with potential of it lingering into Friday.
But hopefully with these new procedures it can limit potential for future wildfires.
