PG&E uses improved technology and planning in hopes of maintaining power supply and reducing fire risks – NBC Bay Area

With forecasts suggesting the Bay Area is about to experience the hottest days of the year, PG&E said it is preparing to make sure the lights stay on and the risk of fires around its lines remain weak.

It is at the San Pablo Hazard Awareness and Warning Center, operating 24/7, that PG&E identifies and tracks any potential weather hazards using early detection – including tools like AI – to identify a danger as quickly as possible.

“The sooner you deal with the incident, the less impact it will have. So, by being able to get crews out to fires more quickly, that impact is reduced and therefore lives can be saved,” said Jim Ridway, senior director of the Hazard Awareness and Warning Center.

The aim is to reduce the risk of forest fires and strengthen the electricity grid. As the warmer months approach, the utility estimates that two years of rain and lack of drought will reduce fire risks through July, but says the risk returns to normal in August.

“Compared to a normal year in California, the risk is a little lower,” Scott Strenfel, PG&E senior director of meteorology and fire science. “We are taking this with a grain of salt because I know it only takes one extreme weather event to cause catastrophic consequences. »

And potentially more good news: The utility says public safety outages will likely happen less often thanks to new technology that can power down only affected parts of the system.

Last year, PG&E had to cut services twice, affecting 5,000 people.

Compare that to 2019, when more than 2 million people were left in the dark because of nine public safety-related power outages.

The utility says burying hundreds of power lines, installing sturdier poles and using high-definition cameras and wildfire risk management systems also helps.

“It's dynamic, so we can understand what the risks are if we start a fire at 3 p.m. rather than 8 a.m.,” said Scott Purdey, a metrology analyst with PG&E.

PG&E says fire crews are also prepared to better protect utility poles this season by responding to wildfire areas and treating poles before fire reaches them.

“By doing this, when the fire hits the pole, the pole is saved so people can evacuate. The road is not blocked, the firefighters can intervene. Then when they're ready to restore power, the infrastructure is ready to go, there's no delay,” said Mike Martin of PG&E Security Infrastructure Protection.

A combination of improved technology and planning that utilities hope will protect power and people.

“We see positive signals in the forecast, but if it is necessary to act, we will be prepared to do so to protect our communities,” Strenfel said.