FAIRFAX TOWN COUNCIL MEETING
STAFF REPORT
1 AGENDA ITEM #9
MEETING DATE December 6, 2023
PREPARED FOR Mayor and Town Council
PREPARED BY Heather Abrams, Town Manager
SUBJECT Receive report from Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) regarding electricity outage and reliability information.
RECOMMENDATION
Receive PG&E informational report.
DISCUSSION
Electricity outages, utility reliability, and PG&E vegetation management programs have been a significant focus in Fairfax. Over the summer, Mayor Cutrano requested reliability data from PG&E and the attached presentation was developed by PG&E. The Mayor, staff, and PG&E representatives met several times to discuss the information. Mayor Cutrano requested that the attached presentation be displayed to the public in the consent calendar in order to address questions and concerns to PG&E on vegetation management, enhanced powerline safety settings, and mitigating fire risk. Previously, staff shared updates about PG&E's wildfire management efforts, as well as their circuit improvement work in Fairfax on the Town’s website and in the Town’s newsletter.
Additional information about PG&E’s work on electrical safety can be found online.
ATTACHMENTS
PG&E Presentation
2023
Town of Fairfax Local Government Forum
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Safety
help prepare for an emergency
Visit safetyactioncenter.pge.com to
list of emergency contacts and more
medication, flashlights, first aid kits, a
Be sure to include food, water,
your family or your business
Build a disaster supply kit for you,
natural disaster or an emergency
Always be prepared in case of a
Preparedness Tips
3 Some of the measures included in this presentation are contemplated as additional precautionary measures intended to further reduce the risk of wildfires.
Topics For Discussion
1 Identifying and Reducing Wildfire Risk
2 Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings (EPSS)
3 Reducing the Impact of Outages
4 Customer Resources and Support
5 Open Discussion
Wildfire Risk
Identifying and Reducing
5 Some of the measures included in this presentation are contemplated as additional precautionary measures intended to further reduce the risk of wildfires.
Wildfire Risk in the Town of Fairfax
High fire-risk area
Town of Fairfax
Fairfax:
Circuits serving the Town of
San Rafael-1104
San Rafael-1108
Woodacre-1102
6 Some of the measures included in this presentation are contemplated as additional precautionary measures intended to further reduce the risk of wildfires.
Key Wildfire Safety Objectives This Year
Wildfires
Prevent
Customer Support
Enhance
Impacts to Communities
Reduce
6 Some of the measuresincluded in this presentation are contemplated as additional precautionary measuresintended to further reduce the risk of wildfires.
Layers of Safety Protect Customers From Wildfires
Undergrounding 10,000 miles of powerlines
in the highest fire-risk areas to reduce ignition risk
Installing stronger powerlines and polesto
withstand severe weather
Keeping trees and branches away from
powerlines to prevent them from contacting lines
Ensuring safety with enhanced protection and
temporary outages
Using the latest technologiessuch as weather
cameras to monitor daily conditions
These
Together,
layers
reduce wildfire
risk from
equipment
8 Some of the measures included in this presentation are contemplated as additional precautionary measures intended to further reduce the risk of wildfires. vegetation
around lines that have had a lot of
Conduct additional trimming
Address dead, dying or hazard trees
distance from the line
1 million trees that are an unsafe
Prune or cut down more than
overhead powerlines
Inspect ~100,000 miles of
-caused outages
When trees are too close to powerlines,
Keeping Trees Away From Powerlines
safety issues. That’s why each year we:
they can cause outages and serious
9 Some of the measures included in this presentation are contemplated as additional precautionary measures intended to further reduce the risk of wildfires.
Tree Work in Your Community
Non-High
Fire-Threat Districts
High
Fire-Threat Districts
Work
Year-round vegetation
work to meet state
standards
Year-round work plus
additional inspections,
treeand clearancetrimming/removals
Safety
Clearance
Minimum of 1.5-feet
around the line
Minimum of 4-feet
around the line
Powerline
Miles ~2 ~24
High Fire-Threat District (HFTD) Map
The California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) High Fire-Threat District (HFTD) map designates areas most at risk for wildfire.
Tier 3– Extreme
Tier 2– Elevated
Town of Fairfax
Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings
11 Some of the measures included in this presentation are contemplated as additional precautionary measures intended to further reduce the risk of wildfires.
T
How It Works
urning off power within one-tenth of a second if
chance to start.
before they have a
Stopping wildfires
Why We Do It
a tree branch or other object strikes the line.
SAFETY SETTINGS IN ACTION IN NAPA COUNTY
Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings: A Technology To Prevent Wildfires Data is approximate; *Based on 2022 performance for CPUC-reportable ignitions in HFTD compared to 2018-2020 weather-normalized performance; **Relative to 2018-2020
68% fire size**
reduction in
99%
ignitions*
reduction in
68%
12 Some of the measures included in this presentation are contemplated as additional precautionary measures intended to further reduce the risk of wildfires.
Safety Settings, Step-By-Step
13 Some of the measures included in this presentation are contemplated as additional precautionary measures intended to further reduce the risk of wildfires.
What Customers Can Expect
PG&E teams
patrol outage area
Power
restored
Repairs are made
(as needed) occurs
Outage
through automated texts, calls or emails
Customer notifications and updates including estimated restoration times Ongoing website updates with outage information
and estimated restoration times
Customers can find information on outage status and restoration process at pge.com/outages Outages
Reducing the Impact of
15 Some of the measures included in this presentation are contemplated as additional precautionary measures intended to further reduce the risk of wildfires. 73%
27%
2021-2022 Outages
Planned Unplanned
Town of Fairfax Outage Summary – 2021-2022
Total Outages: 91
Average Duration: ~ 4.8 hours
Average # of Customers affected: ~205
Wildfire Safety Inspections
System Hardening and
Projects
Capital Improvement
Maintenance
52%
13%
34%
Planned Outages
(67)
21%
21%
38%
21%
Unplanned Outages
(24)
Equipment
Animal Vegetation Undetermined
16 Some of the measures included in this presentation are contemplated as additional precautionary measures intended to further reduce the risk of wildfires.
Town of Fairfax.
reliability on circuits serving the
We have taken steps to improve
Circuit Improvements Map
LR
LR
FI
FI
FI
FI
FI FI
FI
Fairfax:
Circuits serving the Town of
San Rafael
San Rafael 1104
-1108
Woodacre-1102
High fire-risk area
Town of Fairfax
FI
Town of Fairfax:
on circuits serving the
Improvements completed
= Fault Indicator
LR = Line Recloser*
F = Fuse
OS = Overhead Switch
F
OS
F
F
F F
OS
FI
FI
includes installing:
This work is ongoing and
9 fault indicators
2 line reclosers
2 overhead switches
5 fuses
*Completion planned for June 2023
Support
Customer Resources and
18 Some of the measures included in this presentation are contemplated as additional precautionary measures intended to further reduce the risk of wildfires.
Customer Resources
Dedicated wildfire safety contacts: Hotline: 1-866-743-6589 | Email: [email protected] prevention efforts
Information on wildfire
Wildfire Safety
pge.com/wildfiresafety
24-7 free and confidential
calls or texts to 211
support and resources via
211
211ca.org
non
Submit photos of
-emergency potential
safety concerns
Report It App
pge.com/reportit
and your family safe
safety plan to keep you
Create an emergency
Safety Action Center
safetyactioncenter.pge.com
19 Some of the measures included in this presentation are contemplated as additional precautionary measures intended to further reduce the risk of wildfires.
Customer Support Before, During and After An Outage
▪
EPSS & PSPS Support
No
Portable Battery Program
-cost portable backup battery solutions,
mini-fridges, and insulin cooler wallets
▪ Self-Generation Incentive Program
permanent battery storage
Rebates to help customers purchase
▪
generator or battery
Rebates with purchase of a portable
Rebate Program
Generator and Battery
▪
and support for Access and Functional Needs customers
Emergency preparedness planning, portable batteries,
Disability Disaster Access and Resources
▪
Permanent, long
Fixed Power Solutions
-term backup power solutions
for the most impacted customers
▪
generator power during an outage
Devices that automatically connect a home to
Backup Power Transfer Meter
EXPANDED ACCESS
EXPANDED ACCESS
pge.com/pspsresources pge.com/epss pge.com/backuppower
Open Discussion
Thank You
Appendix
23 Some of the measures included in this presentation are contemplated as additional precautionary measures intended to further reduce the risk of wildfires. conducted in their communities:
vegetation management work is being
Customers can expect the following when
Working With Customers
Advance notifications before inspections or
Inspections
tree work begins on your property
to identify potential safety concerns
Tree work following the inspection to complete
Safety and quality checks
any necessary safety work
through follow-up
safety standards
inspections to ensure work meets the required