SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) today shared the progress it has
made in partnership with customers, community leaders and first
responders to reduce wildfire risks and improve safety following the
2017 statewide wildfires and in response to the ever-growing wildfire
threat in California.
Launched in late March 2018, the company’s Community
Wildfire Safety Program has developed and implemented additional
precautionary measures intended to further reduce wildfire threats and
strengthen communities for the future. These new safety measures are
more critical than ever given the dramatically increasing and
devastating wildfires the state has experienced during both the 2017 and
2018 wildfire seasons.
“The wildfire threat facing our state is real and growing,” said Pat
Hogan, PG&E Senior Vice President of Electric Operations. “We at PG&E
are focused on doing everything possible to help reduce the wildfire
risk through our Community Wildfire Safety Program. Now, and in the
years ahead, we are determined to do everything we can to address this
growing threat and stay ahead of the changing climate so we can help
keep our customers and communities safe.”
PG&E’s wildfire safety efforts fall into three main areas: bolstering
wildfire prevention and emergency response, putting in place new
and enhanced safety measures, and doing more over the longer term to strengthen
the electric system and improve resiliency.
To fulfill these goals, PG&E has embarked on several safety initiatives,
including the establishment of the Wildfire
Safety Operations Center to monitor risks in real time and
coordinate prevention and response efforts, and the Public Safety Power
Shutoff program, in which power may be turned off for safety as a last
resort during extreme fire danger conditions.
PG&E has also expanded and accelerated its wildfire safety vegetation
work in extreme fire-threat areas to address vegetation within 12 feet
of distribution lines, as well as branches and limbs that overhang the
12-foot safety clearance zone. This critical safety work also involves
addressing hazardous, dead and dying trees that could come into contact
with power lines.
By The Numbers
-
24/7:round-the-clock staffing of a new Wildfire Safety
Operations Center during wildfire season
-
130: miles of cleared vegetation around power lines in
neighborhoods and communities that face the most extreme wildfire
threat, under new accelerated wildfire safety work
-
100+:new weather
stations installed, gathering additional data to better predict
where extreme wildfire danger could occur
-
200:new weather stations expected to be installed by
the end of 2018
-
9: new early fire detection cameras in high fire-threat areas
within PG&E’s service area, with more to come
-
350+:informational and collaborative meetings with city
and county officials, critical service providers, emergency response
partners and other community leaders
-
570,000+: homes and businesses in high-fire threat areas
contacted by letter or email about Public Safety Power Shutoff and
steps they can take to prepare
-
110,000+:customers who have provided updated contact
information in order to receive wildfire
safety alerts
To be sure customers receive important wildfire safety alerts, PG&E is
asking them to update their contact information by visiting pge.com/mywildfirealerts
or calling 1-866-743-6589. Customers can visit pge.com/wildfiresafety
to enter their address and learn if they are served by a line that may
be turned off for safety during extreme wildfire threats.
More information about PG&E’s Community Wildfire Safety Program,
including tips to help customers prepare for and stay safe during
extreme weather events, can be found online at pge.com/wildfiresafety.
About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E
Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas
and electric energy companies in the United States. Based in San
Francisco, with more than 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of
the nation’s cleanest energy to nearly 16 million people in Northern and
Central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com and pge.com/news.
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Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Media Relations, 415-973-5930
Source: Pacific Gas and Electric Company