California has hundreds
of wildfires each year.
Most are small,
and do little harm.
In 2017 and 2018,
California had some
deadly blazes, including
the 2018 Camp Fire,
which killed 85 people
—the deadliest wildfire
in state history.
Most wildfires are not
caused by downed
power lines.
California Department
of Forestry and
Fire Protection
( CalFire )
in 2017, a bad year
for wildfires,
counted 3,470
of which 408 (12%)
were caused by
electric power
equipment.
Vehicles were
responsible for
309 (9%).
Burning debris
for 437 (13%).
Arson for
222 (6%),
The causes of
871 wildfires (25%)
were never determined.
During the five-year period
2014–18, the state’s three
investor-owned
electric utilities
—Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E),
San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E),
and Southern California Edison (SCE),
reported 2,583
fire incidents.
506 spread less than
three meters (10 feet)
from their ignition point.
Another 1,538 were less than
one-quarter of an acre.
Meaning 75% of the fires
were no more than
one-quarter acre in size.
At the other end, 22 fires
were larger than 100 acres
and 10 were larger than
1,000 acres.
Less than four-tenths of 1%
of reported wildfires over this
five-year period were larger
than 1,000 acres.
PG&E’s service territory
accounted for 77%
of the wildfires,
SCE accounted for 18%, and
SDG&E accounted for 5%.
Over the 10-year period
2009–18, there were
45 large (greater than 300 acres)
wildfires caused by faulty
electrical equipment and
'downed power lines
( all but one in PG&E’s
service territory ),
accounting for
less than 8%
of the 654
large wildfires
in the state .
Of the 45 wildfires related
to electric operations,
20 occurred in 2017,
and six were in 2018.
PG&E’s service territory
is the largest in California:
About 70,000 square miles,
or about 42% of the state,
extending from Santa
Barbara County in the
south to Humboldt and
Shasta Counties
in the north.
Much of the company’s
service territory includes
areas in the state identified as
having a high risk of wildfires,
such as heavily forested areas
where trees have suffered
from drought and disease.
Some of PG&E’s transmission
and distribution equipment
in these high-risk areas
is more than a century old
—well past its expected
useful life and thus more
prone to failures that
can cause wildfires.
CalFire determined
the Camp Fire,
which started
in November 2018
in Butte County,
was caused by
PG&E power lines.
It burned more than
153,000 acres, destroyed
almost 19,000 structures,
including virtually the
entire town of Paradise,
and caused the deaths
of 85 people.
The Camp Fire spurred PG&E
into taking preemptive shutdowns
in areas during dry and windy
weather conditions when
electric related–wildfires
are most likely to start,
particularly by downed
power lines.
PG&E shutdowns,
especially
the largest ones
in October 2019,
affected almost
one million customers
( about 2.7 million people ).
Many of these customers
complained loudly.
Preemptive shutoff policies
have disrupted electric service
to customers for
a few days at a time.
a few days at a time.
According to PG&E,
the company has,
in high fire threat districts:
—25,598 miles of overhead
distribution wires and
5,542 miles of overhead
transmission lines,
for a total of 30,140 miles
of overhead circuits.
Preemptive shutoff costs a
re primarily the value
of electricity that can't
be sold to customers,
and the need to inspect
power lines before t
he power is restored.
The costs of PG&E’s
preemptive shutoffs,
which affected hundreds
of thousands of customers,
greatly exceed the
expected benefits.
So why would California
electric utilities adopt
this strategy?
(A)
An electric utility
can be held responsible
for damages caused
by its equipment,
even if that equipment
is not faulty.
(B)
Electric utilities and
state regulators appear
to be basing policy decisions
on avoiding a worst-case \
outcomes -- preventing
another Camp Fire.
What makes
more sense
than PG&E
preemptive
electricity
shutoffs:
(1)
Additional tree-trimming
and replacing aging
equipment every year.
(2)
Improved forest management
-- controlled burns and the
elimination of dead and diseased
trees to reduce the intensity
and spread of wildfires.
Controlled burns
reduce air quality,
but smoke from wildfires
causes greater adverse
health effects, than the
controlled burns.
PG&E is not in the
forest-management
business, but California
and the U.S. government are.
