Information Regarding Recent Power Outages in Eastern Dublin

The City of Dublin understands that recent power outages have affected residents in parts of Eastern Dublin. The City has actively worked with PG&E to better understand the cause of these power outages and to inform residents on what they can do when outages occur.

PG&E has explained that the outages are due to its Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings (EPSS). These settings on the powerlines are extra sensitive during times of high fire risk - fire season, red flag warnings, and dry conditions - and will automatically turn off power within one-tenth of a second, or faster, if a wildfire hazard is detected. Examples of hazards can be a branch falling on the powerline or a bird colliding with powerlines.

Recently, one of the outages in Eastern Dublin occurred from a bird colliding with the powerline, triggering the safety settings, which caused the power to shut off and help mitigate a wildfire hazard. According to PG&E, EPSS is a proven wildfire prevention tool, and, in 2023, they saw a 72% decrease in ignitions on EPSS-protected lines within High Fire-Threat Districts.

City staff have met with PG&E to discuss residents' concerns and requested that proper mitigation be implemented to help decrease the number of unplanned outages. As part of their mitigation efforts, PG&E has installed bird guards on powerlines to help reduce outage risks during high-sensitivity periods.

The City has launched an EPSS webpage, featuring a video and a fact sheet, where residents can learn more about PG&E's EPSS unplanned outages.