PG&E begins power restoration following safety shutoffs from gusty winds

Pacific Gas and Electric has restored power to about 55% of the 48,000 customers in California that were impacted by the recent Public Safety Power Shutoff event and expects to restore power to the remaining customers by the end of Aug. 19.

As of 10 pm PT Aug. 18, 27,000 customers had electric service restored, PG&E said in an Aug. 18 statement. A public safety power shutoff, or PSPS, is a measure of last resort where electricity is shut off proactively during extreme and dangerous weather conditions when energized electrical lines could be damaged and ignite a fast-moving wildfire.

The PSPS event began the evening of Aug. 17 when PG&E turned off the power to about 48,000 customers in targeted parts of 13 counties, the majority living in Shasta, Butte, Napa and Tehama counties, for safety due to dry, gusty offshore winds that elevated the risk of wildfires in Northern California amid extreme to exceptional drought conditions, according to PG&E. Wind gusts reached as high as 56 mph in Butte County, 55 mph in Tehama County and 48 mph in Shasta County.

Due to changing weather conditions Aug. 17, PG&E removed five counties from the PSPS scope of impact - Alameda, Contra Costa, Sierra, Trinity and Yuba counties.

Since Aug. 14, PG&E meteorologists have been tracking the weather system that could bring sustained winds of up to 40 mph, gusting higher in the foothills and mountains, according to a PG&E statement Aug. 17. PG&E started warning customers Aug. 15 of potential power shutoffs.

Crews will patrol more than 3,289 miles of transmission and distribution lines to ensure that no damage or hazards exist before those lines are re-energized and those customers restored, according to PG&E Aug. 18.

California wildfires

Firefighters responded to 29 new wildfires Aug. 18, according to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. There are more than 11,000 firefighters battling 13 large wildfires across the state.

Gusty north-northeast winds are expected to continue into Aug. 20 in a few wind-prone spots in the Sacramento Valley and foothills and lower western Cascade-Sierra slopes, according to CAL FIRE.

"The weather will continue to test firefighters, as well as increase the risk of new wildfires," according to CAL FIRE. "Relative humidity will drop in the windy areas today and little to no recovery is expected through Friday morning. Gusty winds will lighten today, and smoke will spread south following the dry front."

There have been 6,603 wildfires that have burned nearly 1.4 million acres so far in 2021, 17% and 215% higher than the five-year average, respectively, and according to CAL FIRE.

Dixie Fire

The Dixie Fire, which started July 14 and is the largest wildfire in the nation, has burned 678,369 acres and is 35% contained, according to CAL FIRE.

The morning the Dixie Fire started, power went out at PG&E's Cresta Dam powerhouse and when plant personnel could not diagnose the problem, a line worker was dispatched to troubleshoot the outage and found a tree leaning into PG&E power lines, PG&E CEO Patti Poppe said July 29 during the company's Q2 earnings call. The conductor was still attached to the pole and two fuses were open. The line worker noticed a fire at the base of the tree, called for help and attempted to stop the fire.

The utility announced July 21 a multiyear initiative to bury 10,000 miles of distribution lines underground in the highest-risk wildfire-threat areas, days after the utility informed the California Public Utilities Commission that state fire officials collected parts of a 12-kV distribution line and portions of a tree in their investigation into the cause of the Dixie Fire.

PG&E Corp. will provide the initial actions on this plan in its annual update to its Wildfire Mitigation Plan in February 2022, Poppe said. The total multiyear effort comes with a price tag of about $15 billion-$20 billion or more.

Power prices

Power forwards have been elevated for months due to summer supply concerns from the drought, heat, low hydro levels and wildfire threats.

NP15 on-peak September has averaged about $96.50/MWh so far this month, an increase of 115% from the 2020 package a year ago, according to S&P Global Platts data.

Likewise, NP15 on-peak day-ahead locational marginal prices are 18% higher year on year averaging in the upper $60s/MWh so far this month, according to data from the California Independent System Operator.