PG&E Builds Upon Risk-Informed Safety Actions That Prevented Major Wildfires in 2023 and 2024

OAKLAND, Calif., April 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Building upon proven layers of protection that ensured no major wildfires resulted from the company's equipment in 2023 and 2024 and infused with technological innovation, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) today shared its robust, risk-informed strategy to continue that progress in light of an ever-changing climate. 

PG&E's 2026-2028 Wildfire Mitigation Plan (WMP), submitted to California's Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety (Energy Safety), details the company's relentless actions to construct, maintain and operate its system to minimize the risk of catastrophic wildfires and help keep its customers and hometowns safe. The plan fully integrates high-tech tools and solutions including inspecting assets with drones, using artificial intelligence to improve weather forecasts and installing sophisticated sensors that can detect vibrations, sounds and light that could indicate potential anomalies on an electric circuit that could lead to an ignition. 

PG&E's WMP outlines critical layers of protection that work together to reduce wildfire ignition risk and strengthen PG&E's electric grid in Northern and Central California locations where risk is most severe. These measures include strengthening 570 miles of overhead powerlines and poles; putting nearly 1,100 more miles of powerlines underground; using drones to get a bird's-eye view of electric assets; benefitting from a mature network of weather station and high-definition cameras with AI; trimming trees and more. 

When wildfire risk is elevated, these efforts are bolstered with highly-effective operational mitigations such as Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings (EPSS), and Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) that protect customers.   

"Our system is safer today than it was yesterday, and it will be even safer tomorrow. Our Wildfire Mitigation Plan employs multiple layers of protection we're using to stop catastrophic wildfires in our hometowns. The combination of tools, technology and the expertise of our coworkers is working to mitigate risk, reduce ignitions and prevent catastrophic wildfires," said PG&E Executive Vice President, Operations and Chief Operating Officer Sumeet Singh.  

"Our focus on improving customer experience related to our wildfire mitigation efforts is unwavering," Singh said. "We want -- and we know our customers deserve -- a future where both, safe and reliable service, is a reality. We are working every day to make that possible."  

Technology for Today and Tomorrow

Even as capabilities such as wildfire cameras, weather stations and our 24/7/365 Hazard Awareness & Warning Center (HAWC) mature and become more beneficial, PG&E continues to seek out innovative technologies in the wildfire space. For example, the utility is in the early stages of building real-time monitoring to obtain more dynamic insights into the state of electric assets in light of weather volatility. 

The WMP introduces multiple new technology solutions that are being tested, evaluated and, in some cases, deployed in concert with proven wildfire risk reduction programs, including the following:  

• Gridscope devices. Gridscope pilot deployment started in 2023 and expanded in 2024 with more than 10,000 Gridscope devices now in use across 900 circuit miles (or approximately 3.5% of miles in areas with the highest fire risk) These pole-mounted sensors can detect vibrations, sounds and light that could indicate potential anomalies that could lead to an ignition. In July 2024, during a record-setting heat wave, an electric troubleshooter who traveled to a location identified via a Gridscope alert found vegetation smoldering on an energized line. The line was de-energized, averting an ignition and possible wildfire. PG&E's evaluation of the devices continues as wider deployment is considered. 
• Early Fault Detection (EFD). It's like the power grid's version of the check-engine light in your car. Thanks to PG&E's new radio frequency (RF) monitoring technology, a growing network of EFD sensors on power poles provide a comprehensive understanding of emerging equipment hazards such as damaged conductor strands or vegetation encroachment that would otherwise be challenging to detect. Promising early results have led PG&E to consider expanding deployment of advanced RF technology. These purposeful investments in technology could change the paradigm of utility asset management. 
• Aerial Span Inspections. This new inspection tool gets added eyes-on-risk on equipment in areas of extreme wildfire risk. Leveraging aerial inspections in 2024 (220,000 poles) and 2025, the span inspections will entail a review of a streamlined, specialized set of photos tailored to identify conditions on equipment that pose the highest risk, including locations mid-span (between poles). These inspections will take place in the middle of the established three-year inspection cycle and be piloted in 2026-2028. 

Proven Layers of Protection  

The WMP highlights layers of protection that have proven to be effective in reducing wildfire risk. Using these tools, no major wildfires resulted from the company's equipment in 2023 and 2024.  

• Undergrounding powerlines in high fire-risk areas is a permanent protection that reduces the ignition risk from overhead electric distribution lines. PG&E plans to underground 1,077 miles of powerlines between 2026 and 2028.  
• Overhead System Upgrades such as installing covered conductor, strengthened poles, and wider crossarms will provide long-term ignition risk reduction by improving how the grid is constructed and operated. The WMP calls for making these overhead upgrades across 190 circuit miles each year of 2026, 2027 and 2028, resulting in 570 miles over three years. 
• Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings protect 1.8 million PG&E customers living and working in areas with elevated or extreme wildfire risk. In 2024, these settings contributed to more than 72% reduction in California Public Utilities Commission-reportable ignitions when enabled on primary distribution lines, compared to the 2018-2020 average. More than half of customers protected by EPSS did not experience a power outage while EPSS was enabled in 2024.  

PG&E recognizes that outages on EPSS-enabled circuits, when they do occur, are an inconvenience. Through the end of 2024, the average duration of outages on an EPSS-enabled circuit decreased 17% from the prior two-year average. PG&E also will install additional sectionalizing devices and animal/avian protection equipment to further reduce the impact of EPSS outages.  

• Vegetation Management programs continue to evolve using a data-driven, risk-informed approach to help reduce both outages and potential ignitions caused by vegetation contacting PG&E's equipment.   
• Inspections and Repair Efforts are informed by risk models and are part of comprehensive monitoring and data collection programs providing insight into changing environmental hazards around assets to inform mitigation actions.   
• Situational Awareness Improvements include enabling artificial intelligence to process wildfire camera data and provide automated wildfire notifications. PG&E will continue using state-of-the-art weather forecasting and a comprehensive monitoring and data collection network that uses high-definition wildfire cameras and weather stations to help detect, prevent, and respond to the risk of wildfires.  
• Public Safety Power Shutoffs are a last resort during extreme weather conditions to reduce the risk of catastrophic fire. PG&E's experienced meteorologists use cutting-edge weather models to forecast risk on a granular basis and factor in vegetation in proximity to overhead electrical lines. In recent years, PG&E's use of PSPS has evolved and been refined in terms of the size and duration of events. In 2023, three PSPS outages affected 5,000 customers. With 2024's more severe weather, PG&E initiated six PSPS events protecting 50,000 customers in 23 counties.    

About PG&E

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit pge.com and pge.com/news.

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SOURCE Pacific Gas and Electric Company