Public Safety Power Shutoffs: How Utilities Could Partner
The post Public Safety Power Shutoffs: How Utilities Could Partner appeared first on POWER Magazine.
Catastrophic wildfires have devastated California in recent years. This article seeks to outline a plan wherein neighboring utilities can send energy to support a utility that has shut down critical paths during wildfire mitigation efforts.
On the morning of Nov. 8, 2018, the Camp Fire erupted 90 miles north of Sacramento, California (Figure 1). This fire was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history, ultimately causing 85 fatalities.
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| 1. The Camp Fire as seen from the Landsat 8satellite. Source: NASA/Joshua Stevens |
The fire started under Pacific Gas and Electric’s (PG&E’s) 115-kV transmission line near Pulga in Butte County, and resulted in the January 2019 bankruptcy of PG&E—once the U.S.’s largest utility with annual revenues of $ 16 billion. While PG&E is the first utility to face financial ruin over its wildfire exposure, climate change could make this a cogent problem for many utilities across the nation.…