PG&E Monitoring a Mid-Week Potentially Strong Offshore Wind Event
November 17 2019 - 2:10PM
Business Wire
October Public Safety Power Shutoff Events Led
to Several Operational and Customer Improvements Already Integrated
into Protocols and Plans
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) operational and
meteorological teams are monitoring a potentially strong offshore
wind event on Wednesday, Nov. 20. The forecast remains uncertain,
but there is a possibility that the weather could prompt a Public
Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) for some customers in the Sierra
Foothills, North Valley and North Bay.
During late fall, PG&E’s service territory typically
experiences dry vegetation (plants, shrubs, twigs and debris) that
are ripe for igniting or spreading a wildfire. But dry vegetation
conditions have worsened further due to above average temperatures
for this time of year, the lack of rain and the recent series of
extreme wind events.
Both the forecast and the scope of the weather event remain very
fluid three days ahead of the event. At present, projections
reflect a possible weather event similar to previous PSPS events
that impacted about 180,000 customers.
Overall Improvements to PSPS Practices
Based on feedback from customers, other stakeholders and
internal review sessions from the numerous PSPS events in October,
many improvements have already been integrated into PG&E’s
safety shutoff protocols, plans and procedures.
- The PSPS notification system has been expanded and refined to
reach more people, more reliably.
- Our website and call centers are now able to handle much higher
levels of traffic.
- We are enhancing the quality of our outage maps.
- We have improved coordination and communication with our
government agency partners – including welcoming members of Cal
OES, CAL FIRE and the CPUC to work alongside us in PG&E’s
Emergency Operations Center.
Customer Improvements
- PG&E has invested more than $4 million in 2019 charitable
contributions to emergency preparedness efforts in our service
area, with an emphasis on vulnerable communities in high wildfire
threat areas of the state, including supporting disaster readiness
and response in vulnerable communities through partnerships with
California Fire Foundation, American Red Cross, United Way and
others.
- An example is a $250,000 grant to Interface Children and Family
Services, an organization that bolsters the network of 211
resources in high wildfire threat communities to ensure access to
emergency information for vulnerable populations and referrals to
key services.
- Knowing that PSPS creates hardships for our customers, and
especially for customers who are living close to the margins,
PG&E has committed an additional $2 million in charitable
funding to support communities most impacted by PSPS.
- The emphasis is on organizations that have stepped up to
provide support services to the most vulnerable members of our
communities. This includes low-income children and families,
communities of color, seniors, and Tribal members.
- We are identifying non-profit organizations which are already
serving the most vulnerable in our communities, and helping to
bolster their ability to provide food, water, shelter and support
services on the ground in these communities when disasters strike,
or during PSPS events.
- This effort complements our partnership with California
Foundation for Independent Living Centers (CFILC). PG&E and the
CFILC are collaborating to determine how to best serve the Access
for Functional Needs (AFN) community before, during and after a
PSPS event or other emergencies.
- During the October PSPS, using grant money from PG&E, the
CFILC provided more than 150 batteries, nearly 80 hotel-night stays
and transportation to Community Resource Centers, homes, hotels or
other locations.
- The AFN community includes people with disabilities, customers
currently enrolled in PG&E’s Medical Baseline Program, and/or
the aging population.
Website, Call Centers
- PG&E has completed all functional and load testing on
features and systems on our website that are required for a PSPS.
They were all tested to 2.5 million transactions per hour. PG&E
Outage Maps were tested to 3.1 million transactions per hour.
- We have moved specific components/features of the website to
cloud-based solutions that can scale up and down as needed. These
features are the ones most heavily used during the event including
looking up addresses and downloading map files.
- PG&E’s call center now has the bandwidth to withstand up to
3,900 concurrent calls.
Community Resource Centers (CRCs)
- During one PSPS event in October, we had more than 70 CRCs in
operation at one time. We now can set up and open a CRC much more
quickly.
- We worked with county and city officials to locate the CRCs in
the most appropriate location in each affected county.
- The CRCs provide restrooms, bottled water, electronic-device
charging and air-conditioned seating for up to 100 people, as well
as ice and blankets upon request.
- Throughout the five October events, more than 56,000 people
took the opportunity to visit CRCs at the dozens of locations
provided.
How to Keep Up with PSPS Information
PG&E offers myriad ways for customers to keep up with news
about PSPS events – before, during and after a safety shutoff.
- For the latest weather information, including the PSPS 7-Day
forecast, click http://www.pge.com/weather.
- Make sure PG&E has your updated contact information so we
can reach out to you in advance of a PSPS via automated phone call,
text and email. Update your contact information at
www.pge.com/mywildfirealerts or call 1-866-743-6589 during normal
business hours.
- If you’re not a PG&E account holder or you want to check
whether a PSPS is happening in another area, sign up for PSPS Zip
Code Alerts at www.pge.com/pspszipcodealerts or call
1-877-9000-PGE.
- For general information about how a Public Safety Power Shutoff
works, click www.pge.com/psps
- PG&E will provide frequent updates on its Twitter and
Facebook accounts.
- PG&E will also send out local information via
NextDoor.
- PG&E’s Safety Action Center provides tips on getting
prepared, how to make an emergency checklist, what to pack in a “Go
Bag,” how to open your garage door if the electricity is off and
more.
- PG&E will provide continuous information to county offices
of emergency services and other agencies.
- PG&E will provide frequent updates to news media.
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
www.pge.com and www.pge.com/news.
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