PG&E Responding to Dynamic Wildfire Risk with a Sense of Urgency

By Melissa Subbotin and Andria Borba

PG&E continues to make real and meaningful progress in stopping catastrophic wildfires. In fact, the  Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment has recognized PG&E's wildfire mitigation and prevention efforts.

However, PG&E recognizes that to effectively prevent wildfires, there must be a continuous assessment of wildfire risk and evaluation of conditions that contribute to wildfires. And, when needed, an expansion or development of new layers of protection.

This year, California has seen one of its worst wildfire seasons on record. As of Aug. 21, Cal Fire reports that there have been 5,383 wildfires that have burned 827,880 acres. That represents a significant increase in fire and acres burned from 2023 year to date (4,530 wildfires/116,399 acres burned - Cal Fire and US Forest Service) and the five-year average of acres burned YTD 5,272 wildfires/567,168 acres burned). 

In response to evolving conditions, PG&E established a task force to assess and mitigate ignition trends, which is comprised of a cross-functional team led by Andy Abranches, PG&E's senior director of Wildfire Preparedness and Operations. 

"This year we assessed the data and saw trends that were above year-to-date and end-of-year targets for the highest risk periods," Abranches said. "That's why we took immediate action. The task force has been conducting a complete analysis to understand the drivers behind the increase in ignitions and most importantly, take quick action to stop or reverse this trend." 

Those immediate actions include: 

• Pole-clearing: To help reduce wildfire risk, PG&E is removing all flammable material, shrubs, limbs and foliage around approximately 50,000 electric power poles and towers in the highest fire-risk areas primarily in the North Coast, North Valley and Sierra and Central Valley regions. So far, about 22,000 poles have had a 10-foot radius of vegetation removed at the base. Vegetation management contract crews will continue to safely clear as many of those poles as possible during August. This is additional pole-clearing beyond the 70,000 poles PG&E clears three times a year in high fire-risk areas to meet state compliance requirements. These additional poles were selected because the majority of all facility ignitions in 2023 and YTD in 2024 in High Fire-Threat Districts occurred at the base of the poles. PG&E is engaging with customers, regulators, elected officials and staff ahead of this work. 
  
  
• Gridscope: Developed by Gridware, a new company in PG&E's service area based in Walnut Creek, Gridscope sensors improve reliability and situational intelligence on EPSS circuits. Since 2023 PG&E has deployed 1,875 of these sensors on its poles primarily in Lassen, Napa, Santa Cruz and Yolo counties. During this latest fire mitigation effort, 2,041 additional Gridscope devices have been added to keep watch over the mid-span of powerlines. That initial deployment has enabled PG&E teams to intervene in over a dozen situations including identifying damage and mitigating potential ignitions in certain cases. PG&E is accelerating the deployment of these sensors to get to 10,000 locations in 2024. 
  
  
• High-definition Cameras: As part of the partnership with ALERTWest, PG&E has deployed over 600 AI-enabled high-definition cameras over the past few years. The cameras are instrumental in enabling fire suppression agencies to respond quickly. During this fire mitigation push, PG&E has added 24 AI cameras since July 31 and plans to strategically add even more cameras in 2024 and 2025.  

The task force will be activated at least through the end of October.  

This effort is the latest addition to PG&E's broader CommunityWildfire Safety Program, which started in 2018, and over the last six years has helped establish multiple layers of wildfire protection to significantly reduce risk.

In 2023, PG&E saw a 72% reduction in CPUC-reportable ignitions on Enhanced Powerline Safety Setting (EPSS)-enabled lines in High Fire-Threat Districts (compared with the 2018-2020 average). EPSS allows our powerlines to automatically turn off within one-tenth of a second if a hazard, like a tree branch comes into contact with powerlines - which can cause a fire.

In addition to EPSS, PG&E's laser-focused wildfire mitigation layers of protection include:

• Undergrounding our power lines, burying powerlines to reduce wildfires caused by equipment
• Overhead hardening, installing strong poles and covered powerlines across 1,800 miles of overhead lines.
• Installation of over 2,000 weather stations that enable PG&E to better predict and respond to severe weather threats
• Installation of over 600 high-definition cameras that provide enhanced visibility and early detection
• Sectionalizing devices and transmission switches that enable PG&E to separate the grid into smaller sections and narrow the scope of Public Safety Power Shutoffs
• Establishment of the Safety and Infrastructure Protection Team, known as SIPT-a tactical unit of former firefighters that perform high-priority fire mitigation work.

Using real-time data, PG&E continues to assess risk and further enhance wildfire mitigation efforts.

"We remain committed to our stand that Catastrophic Wildfires Shall Stop, and for our part, that begins with a solid plan that includes integrating state-of-the-art technology and the 24/7 dedication of our coworkers," said Mark Quinlan, senior vice president of Wildfire, Emergency and Operations. "As conditions change, we will take action to meet the challenge." 

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