PG&E to Deploy New Risk Modeling and Fire Spread Technology to Further Reduce Wildfire Risk
February 05 2021 - 9:54PM
Business Wire
PG&E’s 2021 Wildfire Mitigation Plan
Also Aims to Continue to Reduce Wildfire Risk and Improve Public
Safety Power Shutoffs
In a proposal filed today with the California Public Utilities
Commission (CPUC), Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E or
the Utility) detailed its ongoing strategy to reduce wildfire risk,
increase situational awareness, and deploy new technology and
models to help keep customers and communities safe. Improvements to
its 2021 Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) program were also
proposed.
PG&E’s 2021 Wildfire Mitigation Plan (WMP) enhances the
company’s ongoing, comprehensive Community Wildfire Safety Program
designed to address the growing threat of severe weather and
wildfires across its service area.
“The last few years have demonstrated how California’s wildfire
season continues to grow longer and more devastating. We are
continuing to evolve to meet the challenging conditions to more
effectively reduce wildfire risk,” said Sumeet Singh, Senior Vice
President and Chief Risk Officer. “We are accountable to our
customers and our communities that we are privileged to serve. The
safety actions and programs outlined in our Wildfire Mitigation
Plan provide details for our continued commitment to the critical
work of providing safe and reliable service.”
The 2021 WMP focuses on three key areas:
- Reducing wildfire potential by inspecting and repairing
equipment, conducting enhanced vegetation management, and investing
in grid technology and system hardening;
- Improving situational awareness by installing weather
stations and high-definition cameras throughout PG&E’s service
area, investing in PG&E’s Wildfire Safety Operations Center
that monitors high-fire threat areas in real time, and investing in
meteorology to monitor weather conditions; and
- Continuing to make the PSPS program better and build on the
improvements from the 2020 program by upgrading the electric
system to ensure PSPS is a last resort and improving support for
impacted customers and communities when PSPS is necessary.
Reducing More Wildfire Risk at a Faster Pace Using Improved
Risk Modeling
For 2021, PG&E is implementing a new Wildfire Risk Model
that can comprehensively assess and prioritize its safety work,
including system hardening and enhanced vegetation management. This
builds upon the previous model and uses advanced software and
machine learning for predicting fire ignitions and improving fire
spread simulations for determining the potential impacts of a
wildfire.
“This new technology will allow us to more accurately prioritize
our efforts within the highest fire-threat areas,” said Debbie
Powell, Interim Head of Electric Operations. “Because of this
advanced model, customers may see a shift in where we are
conducting wildfire safety work in the coming years. We appreciate
their patience as we adapt to changing environmental
conditions.”
Continuing to Improve Public Safety Power Shutoffs
The core purpose of PG&E’s PSPS program is to keep customers
and communities safe during extreme weather events. The company
will continue to build on its 2020 PSPS improvements and work to
make the program better for customers and communities as part of
the 2021 WMP plan.
These efforts, many of which build off progress made in previous
years, include:
- Using better weather monitoring technology and installing new
weather stations to more precisely forecast the weather that could
lead to PSPS events;
- Sending customers alerts with information about when power will
be turned off and back on;
- Installing more than 260 devices that limit the size of
outages;
- Installing and deploying microgrids that use generators to keep
the electricity on;
- Deploying more crews for inspection and restoration
efforts;
- Opening Community Resource Centers to support customers without
power;
- Providing a website with higher bandwidth to provide
information to all customers; and
- Partnering with the California Foundation for Independent
Living Centers and other community-based organizations to conduct
outreach and provide resources for the disabled and aging
populations.
Building Upon Important Safety Work Completed in 2020
In 2020, PG&E completed important safety enhancements and
investments to help keep its customers and communities safe
including:
- Cleared vegetation around thousands of miles of power line
via Enhanced Vegetation Management work: PG&E crews and
contractors pruned or removed trees with a higher potential for
wildfire risk along approximately 1,878 miles of distribution
lines.
- Made the electric system stronger and more resilient:
Installed stronger and more resilient poles and covered power lines
on 342 line-miles and undergrounded 30 line-miles in Butte
County.
- Completed wildfire safety inspections: Inspected 100
percent of its electrical infrastructure in the extreme fire-threat
area (Tier 3) and accelerated inspections in other High Fire-Threat
District areas.
- Installed hundreds more weather stations: Installed 404
weather stations to more precisely forecast the weather that could
lead to PSPS events.
- Turned on more high-definition cameras: Installed 216
high-definition cameras, an effective tool for early spotting of
wildfires and monitoring real-time conditions.
- Utilized temporary microgrids: Established six temporary
microgrids and prepared 62 substations to receive temporary
generation to keep the power on in some locations during PSPS
events.
- Reduced the scope and impact of PSPS events: PSPS events
in 2020 were 55 percent smaller than they would have been in 2019
under similar weather conditions. That means PG&E avoided a
PSPS event for more than 800,000 customers.
- Faster restoration: Power was restored more than 40
percent faster in 2020 after severe weather passed, as compared to
2019.
PG&E also embraced feedback that it received from
regulators, its federal monitor and others on gaps in its processes
in 2020 and is working to further improve in 2021.
Impact to Customer Bills
The forecasted cost of wildfire mitigation programs described in
the plan is about $3 billion each year for two years (2021-2022).
The costs reflect PG&E’s best estimate of the costs for the
proposed programs as of Feb. 5, 2021. Actual costs may vary
substantially depending on actual conditions and requirements.
PG&E’s 2021 Wildfire Mitigation Plan is subject to public
review and approval by the CPUC. PG&E strongly supports and
encourages its customers and communities to provide feedback and
participate in this important public process.
Customer Preparedness Resources
For more information about preparedness resources, visit
PG&E’s Safety Action Center. The Safety Action Center provides
information to help customers keep their family, home, and business
safe during natural disasters and other emergencies. The site
includes tips on how to create a personalized emergency plan, what
to pack in an emergency supply kit, and how to prepare in advance
for power outages and PSPS events. To learn more, visit
safetyactioncenter.pge.com.
Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking
Statements
This news release includes forward-looking statements that are
not historical facts, including statements about the beliefs,
expectations, estimates, future plans and strategies of PG&E
Corporation and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (the "Utility"),
including but not limited to the Utility's 2021 Wildfire Mitigation
Plan. These statements are based on current expectations and
assumptions, which management believes are reasonable, and on
information currently available to management, but are necessarily
subject to various risks and uncertainties. In addition to the risk
that these assumptions prove to be inaccurate, factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated
by the forward-looking statements include factors disclosed in
PG&E Corporation and the Utility's joint Annual Report on Form
10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, their joint Quarterly
Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2020, June
30, 2020 and September 30, 2020, and their subsequent reports filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. PG&E Corporation
and the Utility undertake no obligation to publicly update or
revise any forward-looking statements, whether due to new
information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent
required by law.
About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E
Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas
and electric energy companies in the United States. Based in San
Francisco, with more than 20,000 employees, the company delivers
some of the nation's cleanest energy to 16 million people in
Northern and Central California. For more information, visit
pge.com and pge.com/news.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210205005552/en/
MEDIA RELATIONS: 415-973-5930
PG&E (NYSE:PCG)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
PG&E (NYSE:PCG)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024