California Authorities Probe in Forced Power Outages as a Preventive Measure

Forced power outages as a preventive measure have raised a lot questions in the recent past. Last month, a major fire in the Lafayette County in California caused significant damage to property and forced residents to evacuate.

The strategy was severely criticized by public officials and residents alike as it was poorly implemented. So much so that California regulators had to conduct an official probe into the power outage that plunged large parts of the state into darkness.

The investigation became as a result of growing concerns over risks from natural disasters. Californians are being forced to address if the state is a safe place to live, given the frequency, scale and impact of such disasters.

California’s biggest power facility, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., repeatedly shut down the power that at one point cut off access to electricity for millions of residents in the central and northern regions. Many of these power cuts persisted for multiple days.

While PG&E deemed the power outages necessary for the sake of safety, residents and official authorities were very verbal about their displeasure stating that power outages should be used as a last resort. Communications were also frequently interrupted.

For instance, the rural community office in Nevada had no access to the Internet or their telephone lines. The city mayor felt that autonomous control of the power grid could peremptorily resolve such disruptions as opposed to electricity supply being managed directly by PG&E which is a profit driven entity.

Other profit driven entities such as Southern California Edison Co. and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. also employed the strategy but fewer people were affected.

A major issue was whether there is an optimal balance between a reliable supply of electricity and ensuring public safety.

Another objective of the investigation is to check the tendency of widespread power outages as a preventive measure from slowly becoming the norm in the state. Commissioners are keen on identifying alternatives and other workarounds.

Besides, PG&E have also been ordered to validate why the shutdowns were necessary as other violations related to power outages were also perpetrated. Each of these state violations implies a $100,000 fine.

PG&E, for their part, maintained that the outages were necessary to ensure public safety. However, there was an incident in Sonoma County where a transmission line failure occurred just before a wildfire started and nearly 200,000 people had to be evacuated.

It was also mentioned that the company is taking every effort to improve current measures as well as incorporate the commission’s requirements during power outages.

During past wildfires, many residences have been completely razed, forcing the occupants to endure deadly smoke and evacuate. Moving to adjoining areas also posed risks owing to fallen PG&E electric lines that caused less severe grassland fires.

Only last month, PG&E officials were interrogated by the Commission over an abrupt power disruption on October 9. The impact of the shutdown worsened as their website kept crashing and lines were constantly busy, denying customers access to valuable information.

Cell phone towers had been disrupted. Internet services were down. Customers were informed to obtain information from a website, through relatives or by using a landline.

The repeated power outages in California have taken many by surprise, given the state’s affluence and infrastructure. Individuals had to scramble for cash and gas while commercial establishments witnessed their merchandize go to waste. Many elderly people and individuals with physical conditions were stuck in their apartments as the elevator couldn’t be used.

The number of people impacted by the PG&E power outages ranged from 30,000 in some cases to 2.5 million in others. Those living in the San Francisco suburbs and in Northern California wine country had to go for days without electricity.

The company has severe solvency issues and has incurred $30 billion in liabilities as its infrastructure was found to have caused wildfires in 2017 and 2018 including the Camp Fire that claimed the lives of 85 in Butte County.

Southern California Edison also had to shut down power supply on five occasions but fewer users were impacted. The establishment has communicated that faulty equipment in its infrastructure might have led to last year’s Woolsey Fire that cost the lives of three people and destroyed many dwellings in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.