Two weeks ago, Sonoma County experienced its sixth power shutoff of the year after the area was expected to be affected by winds nearing 30 mph and low humidity. After power was initially shut off Wednesday morning and restored to nearly all on Thursday, there were just under 6,000 in Sonoma County who had lost power. PG&E had projected that a significantly higher amount of Sonoma County residents would be impacted by the outage at 19,265 households.

In a November 21 press release, PG&E said that “wind gusts in excess of 70 miles per hour were recorded Wednesday morning and into Thursday.” During the Public Safety Power Shutoff, the utility company opened 34 Community Resources Centers “which provided customers with restrooms, bottled water, electronic-device charging and temperature-controlled seating for up to 100 people.” Over 1,900 customers utilized the services. 

The precaution follows October’s historic wind events that further fueled the Kincade fire. While the cause is still unconfirmed, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that PG&E “became aware of an outage around 9:20 p.m. Wednesday on a 230,000-volt transmission line” — a malfunction followed minutes later by fire “among a web of Calpine’s geothermal power facilities.” 

A survey conducted by Sonoma County’s Economic Development Board revealed economic losses of $50-$70 million due to the outage that occurred during the Kincade fire, according to the Press Democrat. The number excludes the lost wages of those who were unable to work during the shutoff. 39% of affected businesses remained open via cash transactions and generators.

Technology still in development may remedy the need for shutoffs in the future, and could be capable of preventing “equipment failure-related wildfires,” reported the Sacramento Bee. Distribution Fault Anticipation would use a predictive algorithm to identify equipment failure similar to how warning lights in cars indicate specific problems such as low oil pressure or battery voltage.

B. Don Russell, a Texas A&M University distinguished professor who was a part of the development of the technology, explained that seven Texas utility companies had conducted testing over the last two decades, though the algorithm was originally intended to avoid widespread power outages.

Russell told the Sacramento Bee that “It just turns out, and this is a key point, that the things that cause outages in the system are also things that start wildfires.”

PG&E and Southern California Edison have both begun testing the technology. PG&E spokesman Paul Doherty said that “the technology is being evaluated along with other sensor technologies as a way to detect emerging conditions on the electric grid and improve situational awareness,” according to the Sacramento Bee. PG&E is scheduled to finish its evaluation by July 2020.

While Northern California is finally experiencing the first winter storm, PG&E still warns customers of the potential for outages in their latest press release. They urge customers to follow similar safety procedures: avoid downed power lines, use flashlights instead of candles, keep a backup phone, have fresh drinking water, turn off appliances, and use portable generators in a well-ventilated area.

“Although the arrival of wet weather is welcome, the storm has the potential to cause significant outages due to strong winds, rain, thunderstorms, and heavy mountain snow,” said Scott Strenfel, PG&E’s principal meteorologist.