As extreme weather continues to worsen, so does the threat of wildfires. The devastating events in January are examples of the risk Southern California is facing and highlight the importance of increased safety efforts.
Southern California Edison has been investing in undergrounding power lines, coated wire called covered conductor, increased vegetation inspections and new technologies that will lower the risk of utility caused ignitions. But with the changing climate, this year’s minimal rainfall and extended winds, there is a heightened chance of wildfires.
“Public Safety Power Shutoffs save lives,” said Tom Brady, SCE principal manager of Wildfire and PSPS response. “We have seen numerous examples of damage to our equipment following these dangerous wind events, and each of those could have resulted in an ignition if the power was not shut off.”
What does this mean for PSPS?
This year, more locations are considered High Fire Risk Areas (HFRA) which means more of SCE’s power lines are now in scope for PSPS. This includes 32 new circuits and 47,000 newly added customers. There are another 123,000 customers on the borders of HFRAs that may also be in scope for PSPS depending on the severity of the weather event.
To combat the growing wildfire risk, SCE has evolved its PSPS program — meaning it may be used more often to help prevent fires and keep communities safe.
SCE has updated its deenergization criteria and wind-speed thresholds, which could result in longer, more extensive outages, including in areas that historically have not experienced PSPS.
These proactive shutoffs, combined with other wildfire safety and grid hardening efforts, reduce the risk of utility caused ignitions and increases reliability during high winds and storms.
What is SCE doing to help customers?
“We understand it is frustrating and disruptive to lose power for any amount of time,” said Brady. “But safety is our number one priority. We must turn the power off during these dangerous conditions to prevent a large and dangerous wildfire.”
During these events, SCE will be opening resiliency centers and increasing the amount of Community Crew Vehicles dispatched to impacted neighborhoods. These resources will be available for customers to charge cellphones and other devices, cool off and have questions answered by SCE team members.
SCE is also committed to improving its customer communications to provide updates during events and help communities better prepare for an emergency.
Eligible customers can receive a rebate on backup batteries and generators that can help keep lights on, the fridge cold, Wi-Fi routers running and make sure your devices are charged until power is restored.
For more information on SCE’s wildfire safety efforts, visit sce.com/wildfire.
