As we know, PG&E shut off power to a significant portion of Santa Rosa and other areas in Sonoma County three weeks ago to reduce wildfire risk because of the Red Flag Warnings that have been issued in the North Bay. PG&E shut power off for the second time because of the extremely hot weather conditions that we are expecting to have, reaching up to the ’90s. The shutoff came along with the Kinkade Fire causing a lot of trauma for residents of Sonoma County.
Last year PG&E had started implementing the planned power outages after fire investigators had found the utility’s equipment had sparked most of the deadly and destructive wildfires in Northern California in 2017 and 2018. Of course, not many Sonoma County residents were too thrilled about this decision, but PG&E wanted to take action and make a choice on what they considered would help prevent another devastating situation to happen. “To end the season of power shut-offs, we need a sustained period of wet weather,” said Michael Wara, director of the energy policy program at Stanford University. “The longer we go in the fall without an extended storm cycle in Northern California, the riskier it will get,” he goes on to say. This time of the year can produce California’s worst wildfires, as we had witnessed two years ago, so it is important that there are steps being taken to help and try to prevent it from happening again. In the long term, it is discussed that shut-offs could be “less necessary because of work PG&E is undertaking to strengthen its system,” says Wara, the Stanford energy expert. The company says it is being more aggressive about trimming trees that could fall on a power line and start a fire. The company is also starting to cover bare wires in the areas most at risk of fires so if a tree or branch collided with the equipment, and ignition would be less likely to happen.
PG&E has been under extreme scrutiny for the way they have handled the shutoffs, but they were right about a possible fire coming. Sonoma State University was closed due to a power outage for a week; however, the school still did have power. PG&E recommends having important phone numbers for public services, family, and friends stored somewhere so that it is easy to call when needed. They also recommend turning off appliances like air conditioners, washers, dryers, ovens, stoves, and irons to avoid sudden startups, including those that produce heat and could cause fires. When asking PG&E worker Jim Pigg how they decide which areas to turn the power off, he says, “By the fire risk in that area such as trees, terrain, and weather. Especially the wind as well as a brush.” He went on to talk about how to improve the public’s acceptance since there has been some negative feedback by saying, “Just to let them know the dangers we are trying to avoid by turning the power off and avoiding these major wildfires. As you know and others who have dealt with this up close and personally, a few days of inconvenience is much better than the alternative.” These power outages may not be a bad thing, it may just help prevent other disasters from happening in the future.
