99 Percent of Distribution Assets Inspected 98
Percent of Transmission Assets Inspected
PG&E Has Permanently Deenergized
Caribou-Palermo Transmission Line
Ten of Eleven Towers on Ignacio-Alto-Sausalito
Transmission Line to Be Replaced in High-Fire Threat Areas
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) today provided an
update on its accelerated and enhanced safety inspections and
repairs conducted in high-fire threat areas over the past six
months. These inspections are one part of PG&E’s Community
Wildfire Safety Program, which was implemented following the
wildfires in 2017 and 2018 to provide additional precautionary
measures intended to further reduce wildfire risk. This update is
consistent with the commitment of PG&E’s new CEO and Board of
Directors to keep their customers informed about the work being
done to mitigate wildfire risks and safely deliver energy to their
customers and communities.
Through the end of May, PG&E has completed visual
inspections of approximately 99 percent of its distribution
infrastructure and visual or aerial inspections of approximately 98
percent of its transmission infrastructure in high-fire threat
areas. This includes approximately 50,000 electric transmission
structures, 700,000 distribution poles and 222 substations,
covering more than 5,500 miles of transmission line and 25,200
miles of distribution line.
Throughout the inspection process, PG&E has been addressing
and repairing conditions that pose an immediate safety risk, while
completing other high-priority repairs on an accelerated basis.
Repairs for all other conditions are scheduled to be completed as
part of PG&E’s work execution plan.
“We’ve just concluded one of the most advanced inspections of
our electric infrastructure in the high-fire threat areas and the
number of safety issues we identified is unacceptable,” said Bill
Johnson, President and CEO of PG&E. “The safety of our
customers and communities must be the driving factor in our
approach to maintaining our electric system. The efforts and
dedication of the more than 2,000 PG&E employees and
contractors during this inspection and repair process is a start in
the right direction.”
Transmission Line Safety
PG&E has permanently deenergized the Caribou-Palermo
transmission line, which CAL FIRE identified as an ignition point
of the Camp Fire. The line has been out of service since December
2018. As previously disclosed, during its inspections, PG&E
identified a significant number of high-priority conditions on the
Caribou-Palermo line. At the request of the California Public
Utilities Commission (CPUC), PG&E retained Exponent, an
independent third-party scientific and engineering consulting firm,
to conduct a records-based review of the transmission line.
PG&E expects that Exponent will conclude its review over the
next couple of months.
During the WSIP repair work, PG&E also identified several
high-priority issues on one section of the Ignacio-Alto-Sausalito
transmission line that runs through areas of the Golden Gate
National Recreation Area (GGNRA) and serves the city of Sausalito.
Ten of the line’s eleven towers in the GGNRA with high-priority
conditions will require complete replacement. PG&E has
commenced preparations for repair work, which will require the
construction of a temporary transmission line to provide electric
service while the towers on the permanent transmission line are
replaced and repaired. PG&E is also in the process of assessing
additional structures on the line to determine if additional
corrective actions are needed.
PG&E has provided results of the enhanced and accelerated
inspections to the CPUC and will be making the status of the
high-priority repairs, organized by city and county, publicly
available on its website on or before July 15.
Inspection & Repair Progress
The unprecedented volume of wildfire risk reduction work
outlined in PG&E’s Wildfire Safety Plan, along with challenges
outlined in the Plan, including inclement weather, the availability
of qualified personnel, scheduling of transmission clearances, and
access and environmental permitting requirements, have prevented
PG&E from achieving every aspect of the Plan’s targets.
PG&E will prioritize safety-driven work, including
corrective actions presenting immediate fire risk, which will delay
completion of other corrective actions that present reduced or no
fire or safety risks.
As of May 31, 2019, of the WSIP inspections, PG&E has
completed:
- Visual or aerial inspections of approximately 98 percent of the
nearly 50,000 transmission structures in, or adjacent to, high-fire
threat areas.
- Inspections of all 222 substations in high fire-threat
areas.
- Inspections of approximately 99 percent of nearly 700,000
distribution poles in, or adjacent to, high fire-threat areas.
As of May 31, 2019, through the WSIP inspections, PG&E has
identified:
- Approximately 53,000 corrective actions on transmission
structures with nearly 100 conditions identified as highest
priority. 100 percent of these highest-priority conditions have
been repaired or made safe.
- Approximately 207,000 corrective action on distribution poles
with nearly 1,000 conditions identified as highest priority. 97
percent of these highest-priority conditions have been repaired or
made safe and the remaining high priority conditions are currently
in the process of being repaired.
- Approximately 3,000 corrective actions within substations with
approximately 100 conditions identified as highest priority. 100
percent of these highest-priority conditions have been repaired or
made safe.
The learnings, enhanced inspection processes and new
technologies, including use of drones and high-resolution imagery
capture, from the nearly completed Wildfire Safety Inspection
Program are being incorporated into PG&E’s future inspection
plans. Combined with a risk-based asset inspection cycle that is
expected to exceed the minimum compliance inspection cycle, the
inspection tools are being incorporated into a plan to support
PG&E’s ongoing efforts to minimize the wildfire risk faced by
the communities we serve.
“The unmistakable message of the inspection results is that we
as a company must do a much better job of making sure that we
maintain our assets in a way that puts safety first,” said Sumeet
Singh, PG&E Vice President of the Community Wildfire Safety
Program. “The unprecedented amount of work we’ve put into the
inspections and completing all of the accessible identified
high-priority repairs puts us on a path to becoming the company
that our customers deserve.”
Wildfire Safety Inspection Program
The inspection work is being completed as part of PG&E’s
Community Wildfire Safety Program, which is in addition to the
company’s routine inspection and maintenance programs executed in
accordance with state regulatory requirements. The inspections
involve nearly 750,000 transmission and distribution structures
along, or immediately adjacent to, more than 5,500 miles of
transmission line and 25,200 miles of distribution line in high
fire-threat areas, as defined by the CPUC’s High Fire-Threat
Map.
In all, more than 2,000 people – PG&E employees and
contractors – have performed the inspection work and have been
integrating new technologies that the company will continue to use
going forward.
Inspectors looked at all aspects of PG&E assets including
cross-arms, insulators and footings, along with critical electrical
components and equipment. PG&E and contract crews inspected
electric towers and poles from top to bottom through ground,
climbing, helicopter or drone inspections.
Inspection findings were documented, particularly through high
resolution images, and reviewed by dedicated teams with experience
in system maintenance, engineering and maintenance planning to
evaluate identified conditions. This process included reviewing
millions of high-definition photographs taken from the ground,
qualified personnel climbing towers, drones and helicopters.
Photographs were evaluated by experts who rate the severity of the
condition found, assign a priority level and begin the process of
dispatching corrective notifications for repair.
Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking
Statements
This news release includes forward-looking statements that are
not historical facts, including statements about the beliefs,
expectations, estimates, future plans and strategies of PG&E
Corporation and Pacific Gas and Electric Company. These statements
are based on current expectations and assumptions, which management
believes are reasonable, and on information currently available to
management, but are necessarily subject to various risks and
uncertainties. In addition to the risk that these assumptions prove
to be inaccurate, factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking
statements include the factors disclosed in PG&E Corporation
and Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s annual report on Form 10-K
for the year ended December 31, 2018, their most recent quarterly
report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2019, and their
subsequent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Additional factors include, but are not limited to,
those associated with PG&E Corporation’s and Pacific Gas and
Electric Company’s Chapter 11 cases. PG&E Corporation and
Pacific Gas and Electric Company undertake no obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether
due to new information, future events or otherwise, except to the
extent required by law.
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 approximately 24,000 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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