As extreme weather becomes more frequent, the need for greater wildfire mitigation is more important than ever. The heartbreaking wildfires and windstorms in January only emphasize that fact.
"The January wildfires underscore the importance of mitigation plans and the need for continuous and evolving tools to maintain infrastructure resiliency," said Steven Powell, president and CEO of Southern California Edison. “While you can’t eliminate wildfire risk, we continue to invest in new and innovative solutions to bring us as close to zero as possible.”
To protect communities, SCE is integrating advanced technologies that increase its wildfire prevention abilities and outlined these tools in its updated Wildfire Mitigation Plan. In the updated plan, current programs are being expanded and several new pilot programs will launch to help enhance wildfire safety.
The Programs Include:
- Rapid Earth Fault Current Limiter: This detects and quickly reduces the voltage on a downed power line so it does not release enough energy to cause an ignition.
- LiDAR: High-resolution imaging used to determine clearances from electrical equipment and surrounding vegetation and to enhance equipment inspections.
- Open Phase Detection: Senses if a power line breaks or separates and turns off the power before it falls to the ground to prevent potential ignitions.
- Early Fault Detection Expansion: Increases this grid’s “health monitoring” system to 200 new locations, helping SCE detect equipment failures early — like a wearable fitness tracker for the grid.
- AI and Machine Learning Detection: Uses advanced models to improve grid inspections and identify maintenance needs with faster, more accurate diagnostics and quality control.
- Alternative Undergrounding Technologies: A simpler, ground level installation that offers an alternative to traditional undergrounding for power lines. This process reduces the cost and complexity of putting lines underground while limiting the possibility of Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) events.
Additional Wildfire Safety Plans:
- SCE plans to complete at least 206,000 distribution inspections and at least 27,700 transmission inspections in high fire risk areas each year.
- The installation of at least 440 circuit miles of covered conductor and at least 260 circuit miles of underground distribution lines.
- SCE aims to inspect approximately 1 million trees annually. This includes checking for vegetation clearances around distribution and transmission lines, as well as monitoring hazardous trees.
For more information on SCE’s wildfire mitigation efforts, visit sce.com/wildfiresafety.
