Fom NPR:
Pacific Gas & Electric could shut off power to more than 5
million customers when extreme weather conditions are ripe for wildfires
to break out, the company said Wednesday. It's an expansion of the
company's previous power shutoff program, which only let the company
turn off power to about half a million customers.
Several power
companies submitted their required "wildfire mitigation plans" to
California regulators this week. But PG&E's plan may be especially
consequential, given that its power lines have been blamed for several Northern California fires over the past few years. The company filed for bankruptcy last month in the wake of billions of dollars in potential liability after two years of wildfires.
The company told the state's public utilities commission
that to address wildfire risk, "shutting off power will likely be
necessary and may need to be performed more frequently due to the
extreme weather events and dry vegetation conditions."
"We
understand the urgency of the situation, that lives could be at stake
and that we need to move more quickly," the company said.
In 2018, the company's "public safety power shutoff" program affected up
to 570,000 customers. This year, the company plans to include its
entire 5.4 million electric customer base in the shutoff program....MORE
Our intro to yesterday's "
Wildfire: "Insurers Trim Their Risks in California"":
Speaking of fire insurance.
We've talked about how wildfire risks multiply simply by having more
and more and more people living in previously wild or semi-wild areas.
Then
when you run electricity into these areas that are no longer allowed to
burn naturally, when the wires break and the land does catch fire, you
have a disaster on your hands....
Wires in the wood, no good.
