June 21, 2019 — PG&E is preparing for deliberate power shutoffs during fire season, in an effort to prevent more catastrophic wildfires. The shutoffs will take place during red flag warnings with high winds, low humidity, and lots of dry vegetation. There isn’t any way to know how long the power will be out in response to such an event, because even after the danger is passed, the lines will have to be inspected and any damages repaired before the power can come back on. Because a planned power shutoff is not a designated disaster, it’s unlikely that the state or FEMA would reimburse any losses that would accrue as a result.
The shutoffs will affect everyone on the grid, including solar customers with grid-tied power, rather than solar that’s backed up by batteries.
And, although the city of Ukiah uses power from alternate sources, the city is a transmission customer, which means it uses PG&E infrastructure. That’s why the city lost power last year, during the Ranch fire.
On Wednesday night, representatives from PG&E and city staff addressed the Ukiah City Council with some initial strategies for how to deal with a planned power shutoff and other disaster prevention measures. Company reps said PG&E is stepping up its vegetation management program, which does include the use of glyphosate. Customers who do not want herbicides used on their property can call PGE 5000. The company also promised a vigorous notification campaign. And Mel Grandi, Ukiah’s electric utilities director, said the city had doubled its tree trimming budget and was placing some power lines underground. He also floated the possibility of coordinating with the Army Corps and Sonoma Water to increase the flows out of Lake Mendocino through the city’s hydropower dam during an outage. I caught up with Tami Bartolomei, Ukiah’s emergency management coordinator, to ask more about plans, priorities, and what she thinks people will need to come through a major disaster preparedness effort.