Tag: power line

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California power company’s line clearance program criticized by the state

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Wall Street Journal reported PG&E’s power lines and equipment started more than 1,500 fires in a 4-year period

Vegetation power line cause faults fires electrically
File photo of vegetation near an electrical line. (Texas A&M Engineering photo)

The California Public Utilities Commission has ordered Pacific Gas and Electric to revise its plan to reduce wildfire ignitions caused by their power lines. The company provides electrical service to areas of Central and Northern California.

PG&E missed a deadline for submitting and gaining approval of their 2021 Wildfire Mitigation Plan. The PUC ordered the company to revise a version they prepared earlier and granted a one-month extension of the deadline.

The PUC’s Wildfire Safety Division says that PG&E is actually spending less money on clearing vegetation from power lines and other equipment, contradicting claims that they are hiring more people to do the work.

Other concerns in the report include quality control and verifying how money spent reduces wildfire risk.

The Wall Street Journal (subscription) reported that investigators attributed more than 1,500 fires to PG&E power lines and hardware between June 2014 and December 2017.

CAL FIRE attributed 12 fires that started in Northern California on October 8 and 9, 2017 to PG&E power equipment.

A search through the Wildfire Today archives found numerous fires attributed to PG&E between 1999 and 2020.  Some of the larger ones are below; it is not a complete or comprehensive list.

  • Zogg Fire, September, 2020, 56,338 acres, destroyed 204 structures, and caused the deaths of four people.
  • Kincade Fire, October, 2019, 77,000 acres, and destroyed 374 structures.
  • Camp Fire, November , 2018, 154,000 acres, destroyed 18,000 structures, and caused the deaths of 84 people. The company pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter.
  • Cascade Fire, October 2017, 9,989 acres, destroyed 250 structures, and caused the deaths of five people, including one firefighter.
  • Redwood Valley Fire, October, 2017, 36,523 acres, destroyed 543 structures, and caused the deaths of 9 people.
  • Sulphur Fire, October, 2017, 2,207 acres, destroyed 162 structures.
  • Cherokee Fire, October, 2017, 8,417 acres, destroyed 6 structures.
  • 37 Fire, October, 2017, 1,660 acres, destroyed 3 structures.
  • Blue Fire, October, 2017, 20 acres.
  • Norrbom, Adobe, Partrick, Pythian and Nuns Fires,  October, 2017, burned together, 56,556 acres, destroyed 1,255 structures, and caused the deaths of 3 people.
  • Pocket Fire, October, 2017, 17,357 acres, destroyed 783 structures.
  • Atlas Fire, October, 2017, 51,624 acres, destroyed 783 structures, and caused the deaths of 6 people.
  • Butte Fire, September 2015, 70,868 acres, destroyed a total of 921 structures, including 549 homes, 368 outbuildings, and 4 commercial properties, and caused the deaths of two people.
  • Pendola Fire, October, 1999, 11,725 acres.

A list of some of the fires attributed to PG&E powerline equipment

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Charges were recently filed against the company for their role in starting the Kincade Fire in Northern California

Zogg Fire, Sept. 27, 2020 California
Zogg Fire, Sept. 27, 2020. CAL FIRE photo.

In light of the charges recently filed against Pacific Gas and Electric for the role their equipment played in starting the 2019 Kincade Fire in Northern California, we dug through some records showing the significant part the company has played in starting numerous wildfires over the last decade.

The Wall Street Journal (subscription) reported that investigators attributed more than 1,500 fires to PG&E power lines and hardware between June 2014 and December 2017.

CAL FIRE attributed 12 fires that started in Northern California on October 8 and 9, 2017 to PG&E power equipment.

Below are some of the fires attributed to PG&E between 1999 and 2020. It is not a complete or comprehensive list.

  • Zogg Fire, September, 2020, 56,338 acres, destroyed 204 structures, and caused the deaths of four people.
  • Kincade Fire, October, 2019, 77,000 acres, and destroyed 374 structures.
  • Camp Fire, November , 2018, 154,000 acres, destroyed 18,000 structures, and caused the deaths of 84 people. The company pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter.
  • Cascade Fire, October 2017, 9,989 acres, destroyed 250 structures, and caused the deaths of five people, including one firefighter.
  • Redwood Valley Fire, October, 2017, 36,523 acres, destroyed 543 structures, and caused the deaths of 9 people.
  • Sulphur Fire, October, 2017, 2,207 acres, destroyed 162 structures.
  • Cherokee Fire, October, 2017, 8,417 acres, destroyed 6 structures.
  • 37 Fire, October, 2017, 1,660 acres, destroyed 3 structures.
  • Blue Fire, October, 2017, 20 acres.
  • Norrbom, Adobe, Partrick, Pythian and Nuns Fires, October, 2017, burned together, 56,556 acres, destroyed 1,255 structures, and caused the deaths of 3 people.
  • Pocket Fire, October, 2017, 17,357 acres, destroyed 783 structures.
  • Atlas Fire, October, 2017, 51,624 acres, destroyed 783 structures, and caused the deaths of 6 people.
  • Butte Fire, September 2015, 70,868 acres, destroyed a total of 921 structures, including 549 homes, 368 outbuildings, and 4 commercial properties, and caused the deaths of two people.
  • Pendola Fire, October, 1999, 11,725 acres.

Charges filed against PG&E for starting the 2019 Kincade Fire in Northern California

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , 3 Comments on Charges filed against PG&E for starting the 2019 Kincade Fire in Northern California

The fire started October 23, 2019 northeast of Geyserville, burned more than 77,000 acres, and destroyed 374 structures

Map showing in red the perimeter of the Kincade Fire at 12:49 a.m. PDT October 29, 2019. The white line was the approximate perimeter about 24 hours before.

The District Attorney of Sonoma County has filed criminal charges against Pacific Gas and Electric for the role their equipment played in starting the 2019 Kincade Fire, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle. The company was charged with five felonies and 28 misdemeanors, including “unlawfully causing a fire that resulted in great bodily injury, unlawfully causing a fire that resulted in the burning of inhabited structures, and unlawfully causing a fire that resulted in the burning of forest land, as well as various air pollution crimes,” according to the District Attorney’s office.

The fire started October 23, 2019 northeast of Geyserville, California, burned more than 77,000 acres, and destroyed 374 structures.

Investigators with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection sent a report to the District Attorney’s office in July of 2020 which concluded PG&E’s equipment was at fault.

On October 24, 2019 PG&E filed a required preliminary report with the California Public Utilities Commission that stated “at approximately (9:20 p.m.) on Oct. 23, PG&E became aware of a Transmission level outage on the Geysers No. 9 Lakeville 230kV line when the line relayed and did not reclose. At approximately (7:30 a.m.) on Oct. 24, a responding PG&E Troubleman patrolling the Geysers No. 9 Lakeville 230 kV line observed that CalFire had taped off the area around the base of transmission tower 001/006. On site CalFire personnel brought to the Troubleman’s attention what appeared to be a broken jumper on the same tower.”

jumper cable high voltage electrical transmission tower
File photo of a jumper cable on a high voltage electrical transmission tower.

PG&E told a judge on November 29, 2019 that it was investigating whether there was a systemic problem with a piece of hardware on their high voltage electrical transmission towers that can start wildfires, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Investigators with PG&E and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection were looking at the possible failure of jumper cables on towers near the points of origin of two huge recent fires, the 2017 Camp Fire at Paradise, California and the Kincade Fire.

The video below shows the ignition of the Kincade Fire on October 23 as seen in near infrared from a camera at Barham near Geyserville, California. Keep your eye on the bright light on the horizon left of center. It disappears at about 21:19:55 and 15 seconds later the fire can be seen growing rapidly.

Investigators also determined that PG&E equipment started other fires in recent years. The Wall Street Journal (subscription) reported that investigators attributed more than 1,500 fires to PG&E power lines and hardware between June 2014 and December 2017. CAL FIRE attributed 12 large fires that started on October 8 and 9, 2017 to PG&E power equipment.

We constructed a list of 18 of the larger fires linked to PG&E equipment.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Tom.

Investigators determine tree contacting PG&E power line started Zogg Fire

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , 3 Comments on Investigators determine tree contacting PG&E power line started Zogg Fire

The fire caused four fatalities and burned more than 56,000 acres in Northern California last year

Zogg Fire, Sept. 27, 2020 California
Zogg Fire, Sept. 27, 2020. CAL FIRE photo.

CAL FIRE has determined that last year’s Zogg Fire was caused by a pine tree contacting power lines owned and operated by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) in Northern California.

The fire started in Shasta County near the community of Igo September 27, 2020 and burned 56,338 acres, destroyed 204 structures, and caused four civilian fatalities.

The Zogg Fire investigative report has been forwarded to the Shasta County District Attorney’s Office.

The fire spread quickly as strong winds out of the north-northeast pushed the fire toward Highway 36 where firefighters were able to stop it before it crossed the road. The blaze was burning while many other fires were being fought by thousands of firefighters in California and Oregon, causing resources to be stretched thin.

“The loss of life and devastation in the communities impacted by the Zogg Fire is tragic, and we recognize that nothing can heal the hearts of those who have lost so much,” PG&E said in a statement. “We also thank the courageous first responders who saved lives, protected property and worked to contain and put out the fire.”

From the Sacramento Bee:

The determination [of the cause of the fire] came as no surprise, as investigators zeroed in on PG&E as the fire was being fought. Investigators at the time seized PG&E’s power equipment, and the company disclosed in October that damages from the Zogg Fire could exceed $275 million.

Those costs would come on top of the $625 million in potential claims from the 2019 Kincade Fire, which investigators say was caused by a faulty PG&E transmission line. Separately, PG&E agreed to pay $13.5 billion to cover uninsured losses from the 2018 Camp Fire and the 2017 wine country fires.

The horrific fires of 2017 and 2018 drove PG&E into bankruptcy. It emerged from reorganization last summer after pledging to Gov. Gavin Newsom that it was overhauling its operations and leadership to put a greater emphasis on wildfire safety.

PG&E pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter on June 16, 2020 for the 84 people that were killed during the Camp Fire that devastated Paradise, California November 8, 2018. The fire burned 154,000 acres and destroyed more than 18,000 structures.

Map of the Zogg Fire
Map of the Zogg Fire October 9, 2020.

Specially treated wire mesh could protect power poles from wildfire

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags 4 Comments on Specially treated wire mesh could protect power poles from wildfire
Fire Resistant Mesh
Fire Resistant Mesh. Genics photo.

Originally published at 5:49 p.m. MDT March 4, 2021

Wire mesh treated with an intumescent graphite coating may be able to prevent a wooden power pole from being consumed in a wildfire. It could also be effective on a railroad bridge or under the eaves of a house.

When subjected to heat, an intumescent rapidly expands and can fill in the gaps in the wire mesh to form a barrier between the fire and the wood. Before the fire, the mesh allows air flow, preventing a buildup of moisture that could lead to wood damage.

I first learned about the product when seeing a report that NVEnergy installed it last month on 170 power poles as a pilot program in Nevada, looking at it as a way to protect equipment in the event of a wildland fire. The company installed it at either a 6 or 20-foot height, depending on the surrounding vegetation.

In September, 2019 we wrote about a fire resistant paint that was applied by the Idaho National Laboratory on 3,000 power poles. They prioritized poles receiving the paint based on service area, fire risk, and vegetation density. Every pole painted in the latex-based fire retardant paint survived the 2019 Sheep Fire. Even poles that had not been repainted since their initial coat in 2012 and 2013 survived.

Updated at 11:47 a.m. MDT March 5, 2021

A big thank you to Robert Tissell who pointed out in a comment on this article that the TV show “This Old House” showed vents being installed in a home in Paradise, California that use the same process. Vulcan Vents says they are  “manufactured out of high grade aluminum honeycomb and coated with an intumescent coating made by Firefree Coatings. The intumescent coating is designed to quickly swell up and close off when exposed to high heat. The expanded material also acts as an insulator to heat, fire and embers.”

Vulcan Vent
PBS, This Old House.

Three power companies in California to spend $15 billion to mitigate wildfire potential

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , , 1 Comment on Three power companies in California to spend $15 billion to mitigate wildfire potential

SDG&E, PG&E, and SCE release their plans for 2021 and 2022

powerline trees
File photo of powerline routed through trees.

Three of the largest power companies in California expect to spend a total of $15 billion over a two-year period, 2021 through 2022, to prevent wildfire ignitions. In state-required updates to their annual wildfire mitigation plans filed with California’s Public Utilities Commission, San Diego Gas and Electric states they will spend $1.3 billion, Pacific Gas and Electric $10.2 billion, and Southern California Edison $3.5 billion.

The power equipment of the three utilities have been responsible for numerous large, disastrous wildfires.

PG&E, for example, expects to make the following improvements to their systems in 2021:

  • Implement a new Wildfire Risk Model that can comprehensively assess and prioritize its safety work, including system hardening and enhanced vegetation management. This builds upon the previous model and uses advanced software and machine learning for predicting fire ignitions and improving fire spread simulations for determining the potential impacts of a wildfire.
  • Install 300 additional weather stations to more precisely forecast the weather that could lead to public safety power shutoff events, to complete the long-term goal of 1,300 total stations.
  • Install more than 260 devices that limit the size of outages;
  • Install and deploy microgrids that use generators to keep the electricity on;
  • Deploy more crews for inspection and restoration efforts;
  • Convert 23 line-miles of overhead powerlines to underground in Butte County;
  • “Harden” 180 miles of high risk lines;
  • Conduct “enhanced vegetation management” on 1,800 miles of high risk lines.

The goal of PG&E’s Meteorology and Fire Science team is to advance operational meteorology and operational decision making to reduce wildfire risk. It is comprised of 15 scientists, most with advanced degrees in scientific fields with diverse backgrounds in operational meteorology, utility meteorology, outage prediction, fire science, data science, cloud computing, atmospheric modeling, application development and data systems development. The team is comprised of alumni from the San Jose State University Fire Weather Research Laboratory (https://www.fireweather.org/), former wildland firefighters, former National Weather Service forecasters, and Veterans of the Marine Corps and United States Air Force.