News(FYI): PG&E will turn off power to parts of North Bay due to high fire danger (Update: Sand Fire, Ink Fire)

[Arcadia]

From abc7news https://abc7news.com/pg-e-may-turn-off-power-to-parts-of-north-bay-due-to-high-fire-danger/5337279/

“PG&E says if it is going to turn off power it will alert affected communities through automated calls, texts and emails. The company also plans to post alerts on it's website pge.com and on social media.
The North Bay communities that could be impacted include:

Napa County

• Parts of Napa
• Lake Berryessa

Solano County

• Portions of Suisun City
• Vacaville

Yolo County
 

• Portions of Davis
• Winters

PG&E said is may also turn off power to many parts of the Sierra foothills including, Butte County, Yuba County, Nevada County, El Dorado County, Placer County.

...

Higher elevations of the North Bay in Marin, Sonoma, Napa, and Solano counties are under the red flag warning from 11pm Friday evening until 5pm Sunday afternoon, but that could change and last longer.

...

How our customers can prepare
 

• Update their contact information at pge.com/mywildfirealerts or by calling 1-866-743-6589 during normal business hours. PG&E will use this information to alert customers through automated calls, texts, and emails, when possible, prior to, and during, a Public Safety Power Shutoff.
• Plan for medical needs like medications that require refrigeration or devices that need power.
• Identify backup charging methods for phones and keep hard copies of emergency numbers.
• Build or restock your emergency kit with flashlights, fresh batteries, first aid supplies and cash.
• Keep in mind family members who are elderly, younger children and pets. Information and tips including a safety plan checklist are available at pge.com/wildfiresafety.”

Edited June 9, 2019 by Arcadia

[Arcadia]

8 minutes ago, Plum said:

So this will be the new normal?

 

The state regulators approved this for Southern California Edison (SCE), San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E), and Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E)

“Every situation is unique. Your energy company makes the decision to turn off power by monitoring local fire danger conditions across California and taking into consideration a combination of weather and environmental factors. These may include, but are not limited to:

HIGH WINDS AND HIGH WIND GUSTS

LOW HUMIDITY LEVELS

DRY VEGETATION

that could serve as fuel for a wildfire

FIRE THREAT

to electric infrastructure

REAL-TIME OBSERVATIONS

by on-the-ground field experts

RED FLAG WARNING

declared by the National Weather Service

 

How long will it take before power is restored?

Power will remain out for as long as extreme and dangerous weather conditions pose a potential fire risk. After a Public Safety Power Shutoff event, your energy company will inspect and repair power lines and equipment so that power can be safely restored.

Depending on the severity of the weather and other factors, power outages could last several hours or multiple days – so it’s important you and your family have an emergency plan in place.

...

To Learn More From Your Local Energy Company

Southern California Edison (SCE)
Visit sce.com/PSPS | Phone: 1-800-655-4555 

San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E)
Visit sdge.com/wildfire-safety | Phone: 1-800-411-7343

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E)
Visit pge.com/wildfiresafety | Phone: 1-866-743-6589” https://prepareforpowerdown.com/

[Arcadia]

abc7news update https://abc7news.com/society/pg-e-says-it-will-shut-power-off-to-areas-in-north-bay-saturday-due-to-wildfire-risk/5338024/

“SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KGO) -- PG&E confirms it will proactively begin turning off power Saturday morning because of the wildfire risk.

...

You can also find a map of the affected areas here.”

[Carol in Cal.]

This is masking their irresponsible installation and maintenance with denials of crucial service.  It is capricious and a poor longterm strategy.  

To some extent I blame deregulation.  They have never really learned to operate in that environment.  But we are all quite dependent on them here, and this is the typical OTT and incompetent stuff that they do.

I am so disgusted with PGE.  

[KrissiK]

6 hours ago, Carol in Cal. said:

This is masking their irresponsible installation and maintenance with denials of crucial service.  It is capricious and a poor longterm strategy.  

To some extent I blame deregulation.  They have never really learned to operate in that environment.  But we are all quite dependent on them here, and this is the typical OTT and incompetent stuff that they do.

I am so disgusted with PGE.  

Yeah, when you stop and think about the mess they are in and we are in because of them, it is really quite unbelievable. And yet, rates continue to climb and climb. It’s like we are living in a third world country. I live in the San Joaquin Valley. We topped 100 degrees last week and will again this next week. And we still have a lot of summer yet to come.

[Arcadia]

7 hours ago, Carol in Cal. said:

  But we are all quite dependent on them here, and this is the typical OTT and incompetent stuff that they do.

I am so disgusted with PGE.  

 

26 minutes ago, KrissiK said:

Yeah, when you stop and think about the mess they are in and we are in because of them, it is really quite unbelievable. And yet, rates continue to climb and climb. It’s like we are living in a third world country. 

 

My city runs its own electric supply so I’m only dependent on PG&E for gas (thank goodness). I do get the California Climate Credit twice a year so my gas bills of April and May are zero. 

The wildfire bill pass though 😞

“Amid calls from PG&E for a legislative response to wildfires that killed more than a dozen Californians and destroyed thousands of homes over the last year, lawmakers approved a bill that makes it easier for utility companies to recover wildfire costs from ratepayers. The measure also designates $1 billion in cap-and-trade money to the removal of dead trees and brush that fuel blazes, among many other major changes to state law.”https://www.sacbee.com/latest-news/article217633560.html

 

[EmilyGF]

I wondered how long it would take until PG&E either stopped servicing certain areas or cut power when I heard about the liability rulings... it seems like the state should have anticipated such a response. I can't imagine the profit of servicing such areas outweighs the risks.

Sorry for people who are effected. That is lousy.

Emily

Edited June 8, 2019 by EmilyGF

[KrissiK]

33 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

 

 

My city runs its own electric supply so I’m only dependent on PG&E for gas (thank goodness). I do get the California Climate Credit twice a year so my gas bills of April and May are zero. 

The wildfire bill pass though 😞

 

What does your city use for infrastructure?? DH and I actually just had a long conversation sparked (no pun intended) by this thread and part of the reason PG&E has the monopoly on energy is because they own the infrastructure.

[Arcadia]

7 minutes ago, KrissiK said:

What does your city use for infrastructure?? DH and I actually just had a long conversation sparked (no pun intended) by this thread and part of the reason PG&E has the monopoly on energy is because they own the infrastructure.

 

They buy power from others (nice 2 page infographic) http://www.siliconvalleypower.com/home/showdocument?id=5763

“Does the City of Santa Clara generate power within its own city limits?

Santa Clara currently generates approximately 16% of its energy within city limits. The remainder of energy needs comes from a diverse set of resources owned and contracted for throughout California and Western United States.” http://www.siliconvalleypower.com/svp-and-community/about-svp/faqs/svp-faq

“How do I know that the electricity powering my home is carbon‑free?

Your home’s electricity is generated from renewable resources and large hydroelectric facilities that do not emit carbon in order to produce electricity. Silicon Valley Power procures carbon-free power for your home through resources that Silicon Valley Power owns or through multiyear Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with solar, wind, hydroelectric, landfill gas, and geothermal power plants. These PPAs directly support the building and generation of these cleaner power sources. This will be evident in Silicon Valley Power’s 2018 Residential Power Content Label, which will be released in 2019.” http://www.siliconvalleypower.com/svp-and-community/about-svp/faqs/carbon-free-faq

 

[KrissiK]

14 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

 

They buy power from others (nice 2 page infographic) http://www.siliconvalleypower.com/home/showdocument?id=5763

“Does the City of Santa Clara generate power within its own city limits?

Santa Clara currently generates approximately 16% of its energy within city limits. The remainder of energy needs comes from a diverse set of resources owned and contracted for throughout California and Western United States.” http://www.siliconvalleypower.com/svp-and-community/about-svp/faqs/svp-faq

“How do I know that the electricity powering my home is carbon‑free?

Your home’s electricity is generated from renewable resources and large hydroelectric facilities that do not emit carbon in order to produce electricity. Silicon Valley Power procures carbon-free power for your home through resources that Silicon Valley Power owns or through multiyear Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with solar, wind, hydroelectric, landfill gas, and geothermal power plants. These PPAs directly support the building and generation of these cleaner power sources. This will be evident in Silicon Valley Power’s 2018 Residential Power Content Label, which will be released in 2019.” http://www.siliconvalleypower.com/svp-and-community/about-svp/faqs/carbon-free-faq

 

But how do they deliver it? Do they lease power lines from PG&E or do they own their own?

[Mom0012]

Almost unbelievable. Sorry for those dealing with this. 

[Arcadia]

7 minutes ago, KrissiK said:

But how do they deliver it? Do they lease power lines from PG&E or do they own their own?

 

No idea but my guess is they own the power lines coming from their own power plants. The city workers are the ones taking care of any electric power outages and also the ones activating and deactivating household electricity. 

[Carol in Cal.]

6 hours ago, EmilyGF said:

I wondered how long it would take until PG&E either stopped servicing certain areas or cut power when I heard about the liability rulings... it seems like the state should have anticipated such a response. I can't imagine the profit of servicing such areas outweighs the risks.

Sorry for people who are effected. That is lousy.

Emily

See, and this is where dereg comes in.  They haven’t wanted to serve remote areas for years.

Edited June 8, 2019 by Carol in Cal.

[EmilyGF]

50 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

See, and this is where dereg comes in.  They haven’ wanted to serve remote areas for years.

Totally. You see that with UPS and FedEx sending remote shippings via USPS. 

[Liz CA]

9 hours ago, KrissiK said:

What does your city use for infrastructure?? DH and I actually just had a long conversation sparked (no pun intended) by this thread and part of the reason PG&E has the monopoly on energy is because they own the infrastructure.

 

Yes, dh is in mechanical engineering and deals with power / gas issues frequently. Sacramento has SMUD and their rates are a fraction of what we are paying in PGE territory.

ETA: Dh just said that SMUD leases some infrastructure from PGE and maintains it for Sacramento SMUD customers.

Edited June 9, 2019 by Liz CA

[Carol in Cal.]

5 minutes ago, Liz CA said:

 

Yes, dh is in mechanical engineering and deals with power / gas issues frequently. Sacramento has SMUD and their rates are a fraction of what we are paying in PGE territory.

And yet PGE owns most of the hydroelectric power generation in the state, which was all paid for eons ago and should be a very cheap source of power.  

I am not one to hate big companies, but I hate PGE.  (And Monsanto.  Just in general.)

[Liz CA]

10 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

And yet PGE owns most of the hydroelectric power generation in the state, which was all paid for eons ago and should be a very cheap source of power.  

I am not one to hate big companies, but I hate PGE.  (And Monsanto.  Just in general.)

 

We are no fans either but dh just said, "we are stuck with them for now." I suppose looking at alternatives like solar, etc. may become more of a topic partly due to the power situation.

The hydroelectric power is everywhere here. We are kayakers and almost every lake in the Sierra foothills has a PGE power plant converting into hydro.

I just asked dh what happens if a baby or elderly person suffers severe health problems or dies due to F100+ degrees and no power and dh said by law PGE is not obligated to supply us with power. Like Krissi said, it's a huge mess and when you add in the mismanagement of forest land, oy.

Edited June 9, 2019 by Liz CA

[Carol in Cal.]

8 minutes ago, Liz CA said:

 

We are no fans either but dh just said, "we are stuck with them for now." I suppose looking at alternatives like solar, etc. may become more of a topic partly due to the power situation.

The hydroelectric power is everywhere here. We are kayakers and almost every lake in the Sierra foothills has a PGE power plant converting into hydro.

I just asked dh what happens if a baby or elderly person suffers severe health problems or dies due to F100+ degrees and no power and dh said by law PGE is not obligated to supply us with power. Like Krissi said, it's a huge mess and when you add in the mismanagement of forest land, oy.

Right, exactly.

They need to put their lines underground.  

I keep hearing about the reactive stuff they are doing but nothing proactive except ham handed efforts to cut down all the trees, usually the wrong trees, almost always by contractors so they have plausible denial, no opportunity to object unless you happen to be there when they arrive, the phone number for appeals is never staffed and calls are not returned, the county folks refer you to the PUC, the PUC won’t talk to you unless you call the number that is never staffed which you can’t prove you did because it is, wait for it, never staffed; then the PUC says they will call you back but they don’t.

Stupid stuff like that.

And almost no alternative energy is off the grid—it’s usually just a back up.

And if you do solar, you have to have sunny areas, giving up natural shade that is helpful in cooling for the hot weather and sheltering for the cold weather plus stabilizing hillsides.

We are so at the mercy of this company, and that is increasingly dangerous.  It was fine when there was a set of rules that ensured reasonable service requirements to all, and general realization that we are all in this together, but once dereg hit, and PGE started to answer to stockholders, the premises began to shift; yet we are still stuck with them.  This is really really bad.

Edited June 9, 2019 by Carol in Cal.

[Liz CA]

18 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

Right, exactly.

They need to put their lines underground.  

I keep hearing about the reactive stuff they are doing but nothing proactive except ham handed efforts to cut down all the trees, usually the wrong trees, almost always by contractors so they have plausible denial, no opportunity to object unless you happen to be there when they arrive, the phone number for appeals is never staffed and calls are not returned, the county folks refer you to the PUC, the PUC won’t talk to you unless you call the number that is never staffed which you can’t prove you did because it is, wait for it, never staffed; then the PUC says they will call you back but they don’t.

Stupid stuff like that.

And almost no alternative energy is off the grid—it’s usually just a back up.

And if you do solar, you have to have sunny areas, giving up natural shade that is helpful in cooling for the hot weather and sheltering for the cold weather plus stabilizing hillsides.

We are so at the mercy of this company, and that is increasingly dangerous.  It was fine when there was a set of rules that ensured reasonable service requirements to all, and general realization that we are all in this together, but once dereg hit, and PGE started to answer to stockholders, the premises began to shift; yet we are still stuck with them.  This is really really bad.

 

https://www.pge.com/includes/docs/pdfs/myhome/customerservice/energystatus/Rule20A.pdf

Here is a list of sorts where projects have begun for "undergrounding." Most places are still in the planning or engineering phase. Very few have been completed. I guess we'll have another rate hike shortly to finance it when another person is leaning on a shovel...😜

[Arcadia]

From CBS Sacramento https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2019/06/08/yolo-county-sand-fire-guinda/

“Cal Fire: 600-Acre Vegetation Fire 0% Contained In Yolo County

6:50 p.m. Update: Cal Fire said the Sand Fire has grown to 600 acres and is 0% contained.

Many neighboring agencies have responded to Yolo County to assist in the fight. Sacramento Metro Fire sent a type 3 Strike Team, consisting of four engines, two from Metro Fire, one from Sac City Fire, and one from Cosumnes Fire.

5:15 p.m. Update: Caltrans has closed down Highway 16 in Yolo County at Rumsey Canyon due to the Sand Fire.

The northbound lanes of Highway 16 are closed at Guinda.

There is no estimated time of reopening.

4:55 p.m. Update: Cal Fire said the Sand Fire has now grown to 125 acres and is zero percent contained.

Mandatory evacuations are in effect along County Road 41.

Firefighters said some structures are now threatened by the fire.

An evacuation center has been established at the Esparto Boy Scout Cabin at 16980 Yolo Avenue.

YOLO COUNTY (CBS13) — A vegetation fire has broken out near Guinda in Yolo County, according to Cal Fire.

Sand Fire in Guinda, Yolo County from Interstate 5. (credit: Noelle Borba)

Firefighters say the fire is 100 acres and rapidly spreading.

Air and ground resources are on the scene. Crews said no structures are threatened by the fire.

It is unclear if it is near any homes since it is a rural area.

The fire was reported at 2:50 p.m.”

ETA:

8:30pm Calfire Facebook page

“#SandFire off County Road 41 & Highway 16, Rumsey in Yolo County is 1,700 acres. Evacuations in effect. http://www.fire.ca.gov/current_incidents/incidentdetails/Index/2322 ”

Edited June 9, 2019 by Arcadia

[Arcadia]

From NBC Bay Area https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Firefighters-Battle-Wildfires-Near-Napa-County-Calfire-Reports--511027121.html

“Firefighters Battle 'Ink Fire' Burning Northeast of Calistoga

Firefighting crews from Cal Fire-Napa County Fire are battling a vegetation fire which as of 4:45 p.m. Saturday had burned about 25 acres off of Pope Valley Road six miles northeast of Calistoga, firefighters reported on social media.

Dubbed the "Ink Fire," it was first reported about 2:35 p.m. Saturday. The blaze, as of 4:45 p.m., was no longer spreading, firefighters said.

No other information about the wildfire was available late Saturday afternoon.

Pacific Gas and Electric had turned power off at about 6:15 a.m. Saturday to areas of unincorporated Napa County near Lake Berryessa deemed at high fire risk spurred by high temperatures, winds and dry fuel. The site of the Ink Fire is about 10 miles northwest of the Spanish Flat Resort on Lake Berryessa.”

 

Edited June 9, 2019 by Arcadia

[Arcadia]

From kron4 https://www.kron4.com/news/california/pg-e-to-shut-off-power-to-26-900-customers-in-sierra-foothills/2063166385

“Saturday night's outage will impact customers in Butte, Yuba. Nevada, El Dorado and Placer counties. 

The outage will begin at 9 p.m. and last through noon on Sunday. 

The affected areas include: 

Butte County: Portions of Paradise, Oroville, Bangor, Forest Ranch, Chico, Berry Creek, Palermo

Yuba County: Portions of Browns Valley, Oregon House, Marysville, Wheatland, Rackerby

Nevada County: Portions of Auburn, Grass Valley, Smartville, Rough and Ready, Penn Valley

El Dorado County: Portions of Pilot Hill, Greenwood, Georgetown, Cool

Placer County: Portions of Lincoln

PG&E says it will be contacting affected customers by phone, email and text. 

Customers can also check their address online to see if they live in an impacted area. ”

[sassenach]

I may have said a curse word when the text came through about the Yolo fire. We’re getting drift smoke here. How in the world are we already back to burning?

[Carol in Cal.]

53 minutes ago, sassenach said:

I may have said a curse word when the text came through about the Yolo fire. We’re getting drift smoke here. How in the world are we already back to burning?

I was snowed in at 5400 feet just two weeks ago.  Wettest winter in ages.  Really weird.

[Arcadia]

From CalFire Facebook updates

“#InkFire off Pope Valley Rd, northeast of Calistoga in Napa County is 50 acres & 85% contained.”

“#SandFire off County Road 41 & Highway 16, Rumsey in Yolo County is 1,800 acres. Evacuations in effect. http://www.fire.ca.gov/current_incidents/incidentdetails/Index/2322 ”

[Arcadia]

From Facebook

“#SandFire off County Road 41 & Highway 16, Rumsey in Yolo County is 2,200 acres & 20% contained. Evacuations in effect. http://www.fire.ca.gov/current_incidents/incidentdetails/Index/2322 ”

[KrissiK]

12 hours ago, Carol in Cal. said:

I was snowed in at 5400 feet just two weeks ago.  Wettest winter in ages.  Really weird.

I know, right?  We were at Family Camp in the Sierras on Memorial Day Weekend, elevation 3,000 feet and got snow Sunday afternoon.  It didn't stick but still.....