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Building largely on practices that have already had an impact, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) this week submitted its 2023-2025 wildfire mitigation plan to California regulators, which outlined efforts to harden towers and power lines, underground lines, for management of vegetation, inspection and repair .
“Our system has never been more secure and we make it more secure every day,” said Sumeet Singh, Executive Vice President, Operations and COO of PG&E. “Our wildfire mitigation plan outlines multiple layers of protection that we use to stop catastrophic wildfires in our hometowns. We are also doing more than ever to reduce the impact of EPSS and PSPS on our customers. We want a future where our customers don’t have to choose between safety and reliability – we want both, and we work every day to make that possible.”
According to the company, its efforts to date have reduced the wildfire risk to its equipment by more than 90 percent, and it aims to improve the remaining 10 percent in the coming period. In addition to continuing the efforts that have yielded results, PG&E also proposed to the California Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety to look for new technology solutions, such as turning on or off power.
A major ongoing effort is the burial of wiring – a permanent means of reducing the risk of ignition from otherwise overhead electrical distribution lines. PG&E has previously committed to burying 10,000 miles of wire in high-risk areas and plans to complete work on 2,100 miles of wire between 2023 and 2026. At the same time, covered ladders, stronger pylons and wider trusses will be installed to improve the construction and operation of the network while taking risk-aware approaches to vegetation management and the associated risk of potential ignition.
Last year, the company reported a 68 percent reduction in firings reportable by the California Public Utilities Commission — compared to the 2018-2020 average — after implementing improved powerline security settings across PG&E’s 44,000-line network. The Company intends to install additional dissection equipment and animal welfare equipment in its service area and leverage AI-enabled wildfire camera data and automated wildfire alerts to improve situational awareness.
PG&E serves more than 16 million people across California.
dailyenergyinsider.com
https://dailyenergyinsider.com/news/39079-pge-2023-2025-wildfire-safety-strategy-calls-for-greater-pole-and-line-protections-undergrounding-tree-rimming/
