Should we have a thread on here about PG&E shutdowns?
Word is that they might be pulling the plug this weekend. Seems funny because all the grass I have seen is still green.
3 Likes
Potential timing and locations
For the North Bay, there is the potential for a Public Safety Power Shutoff affecting about 1,600 customers starting at around 6 a.m. on Saturday, June 8, with the peak period of fire risk lasting until at least noon on Saturday.
Areas where power might be shut off:
Napa County: Portions of unincorporated Napa County and Lake Berryessa
Solano County: Portions of Suisun City, and unincorporated areas near Vacaville and Winters
Yolo County: Unincorporated areas near Davis and Winters
For the Sierra foothills, there is the potential for a Public Safety Power Shutoff affecting about 27,000 customers starting at around 9 p.m. on Saturday, June 8, with the peak period of fire risk lasting until around noon on Sunday, June 9.
Areas where power might be shut off:
Butte County: Portions of Paradise, Oroville, Bangor, Forest Ranch, Chico, Berry Creek, Palermo
Yuba County : Portions of Browns Valley, Oregon House, Marysville, Wheatland, Rackerby
Nevada County: Grass Valley, Smartville, Rough and Ready, Penn Valley
El Dorado County: Portions of Pilot Hill, Greenwood, Georgetown, Cool
Placer County: Portions of Auburn and Lincoln
1 Like
Yup, good thing they might shut off power around Paradise to ensure it doesn’t get burned.
2 Likes
Grass is still green around 3000ft, at 4000ft in Pollock Pines there is still standing water in some of the larger ruts…
1 Like
Shut down in Sierras coming soon.
Perhaps they should have broadened the scope of the North Bay outage as there was a small fire along Calistoga Rd within the Tubbs Fire footprint caused by downed power lines.
The potential is very much real.
2 Likes
https://m.pge.com/?WT.pgeac=Home_Outages#outages
Their safety shutdowns are color coded in a magenta color as opposed to the green, yellow, orange of normal outages.
My thought here is that while PG&E is between a rock and a hard place (liability vs power reliabilty) these Safety Shut Offs are very much a political move. They can’t afford to burn down any more towns (obviously) and they will be liable for damages, deaths and injuries. They also will gain a lot of bad press by shutting off people’s power for 48 hours or more. Imagine the PR fiasco when people are dying of heat stroke, their oxygen generators fail, or whatever other medical emergency you can think of. PG&E can’t win - unless…they can get the state to grant them immunity from damages caused by failed equipment. Then they can conduct business as usual and everybody is happy, except for those whose houses burn down.
2 Likes
And what is the responsibility of the individuals to be prepared what ever there needs and possible discomfort when choosing to reside in vulnerable areas or location ?
4 Likes
When I worked in Central Oregon years ago, I noticed there was not nearly the number of houses scattered around the woods and those that lived there had no expectation of major heroics from the fire agencies in case of fire in the area. There was nothing like all-risk CDF in that state. ODF there operated more like the USFS here, small trucks, small tools, small roads, but not nearly the WUI issues.
I just talked to an experienced appraiser the other day and he was saying it is just the tip of the iceberg with these high fire zone properties and fire insurance availability/cancellations.
As in many things, insurance companies have the last word. Their numbers don’t lie.
1 Like
As of 9pm shut down from about Loma Rica up to Paradise in a pretty narrow strip where the grass meets the oaks in my way of looking at it.
Look at the area where in Redding where FF Jeremy Stoke perished during the Carr Fire. Or Santa Rosa. Those areas were not in the Classic WUI. It’s more then just the people who live out in the hills. The climate and new building construction has created a whole new fuel model. The fire may start in the hills, the WUI, with poorly maintained power infrastructure but these days it doesn’t mean it’s limited to those areas. A subdivision with near 100% defensible space in the flatlands that is not necessarily in a ‘vulnerable area or location’ is also not necessarily safe. If you live in a subdivision in a city it’s expected that that you’re basic utilities are going to be safe and provided for mostly. If the ‘new norm’ is for every home to have back up generators then so be it, but it’s going to take a huge PSA from city, court and state and mostly likely financial incentives for that occur.
1 Like
That’s some good points WTS. It sure seems like the new norm. I may have a minority view on this. To me it comes down to the fact we have risks associated with anywhere we choose to live.
I read this and thought I would share. It’s not an ICP, however they may not be too far off soon.
See the two tweets after the pinned.
1 Like
I think everyone is forgetting there is a Public Resource Code in California that requires power companies and the rail road to maintain their utilities to prevent fires. Fires that have been started by electrical lines are nothing new, they have been happening for a long time, the difference now is that the fuels have changed from the drought and climate change and the fires have become more serious.
When you put profits over your duty to maintain your infrastructure, the result is obvious. PG&E has done a good job to spin this as a public safety shutoff and to place the burden of their failure to maintain their infrastructure back onto the rate payer.
4 Likes
I agree with your statement when it comes to people that live in the interface and rural areas. However I don’t think the people living in Coffee Park and downtown Santa Rosa necessarily should be lumped into that group. When we are evacuating and burning down hospitals and large type I and II buildings in the middle of cities I have a hard time with the personal responsibility argument.
Good points. It would be interesting to read how much, if at all, negligence played into this vs Mother Nature and land management practices. Mother Nature is usually going to win, especially if you give her something to burn.
2 Likes
It is never just one thing. It is all of the problems, lack of maintenance by power companies, prevention of vegetation management efforts due to law suites filed by various interest groups, over-development, etc. That equals no one solution to the problems. Shutting down the power is one (although not the best) solution.
2 Likes
As of 3pm Sunday. Most of the Sierra foothills strip back on except Palermo and areas around Stirling City. I suppose maybe because the required patrol has taken longer there.