PG&E will unveil plans in February to bury about 10,000 miles of electric power lines across California in a bid to curb wildfire risks in the scarred North Bay region, the utility giant’s chief executive told The Press Democrat Monday.
Patti Poppe said the San Francisco-based company will build upon the efforts of burying almost 100 miles of electric distribution lines by year’s end. That includes 4 miles within Rincon Valley that now allows 11,000 customers to avoid preventive power outages during wildfire season. Projects in other North Bay counties haven’t yet been identified.
“Even 100 miles makes a difference. You know 200, 300, 500, 1,000 miles makes a huge difference in our highest-risk areas,” Poppe said. “We are getting great feedback on our ability to do it at an affordable cost for customers, which a lot of people doubted at first.”
Underground transmission lines don't start fires. What's it worth to put a stop to the continuing wildfires caused by electric transmission? Burying the lines will be expensive, but not burying the lines will be even more expensive, and could cause a loss of life.
The Tennessee Valley Authority, a federal power marketer, said that at least 100 electric transmission towers were damaged by recent tornadoes.
The Tennessee Valley Authority, a federal power marketer, said that at least 100 electric transmission towers were damaged by recent tornadoes.
According to the TVA, at least 100 transmission towers and poles were damaged and destroyed; with 29 TVA transmission lines knocked out of service. More than 20 customer connection points – where the TVA power system meets with local power companies – went offline leaving more than 250,000 customers without power amid and after the storms.
Repairing these lines to get power flowing again is going to be time-consuming, difficult, and expensive. Perhaps the money would be better spent undergrounding transmission lines, but that would take way too long at this point. TVA will repair what it already has and then hope it doesn't happen again. But it probably will.
Missouri Governor Mike Parsons has applied for federal disaster relief to repair "extensive damage to power delivery systems" after recent tornadoes hit the state.
Missouri Governor Mike Parsons has applied for federal disaster relief to repair "extensive damage to power delivery systems" after recent tornadoes hit the state.
The Missouri State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) found the heaviest damage to electric cooperatives infrastructure occurred in the bootheel counties of Dunklin and Pemiscot, where more than 20 large transmission towers and lines were destroyed or heavily damaged.
Utility crews have rerouted power from other sources until a permanent repair can be made. At its peak, more than 30,000 people were without power.
More than 20 large transmission towers were destroyed or heavily damaged. Repairs will be lengthy and expensive. And then Missouri waits until the next weather event takes down the same towers again.
Don't you think it's time to begin undergrounding new transmission lines? Making electric transmission ambivalent to weather events would be a HUGE step towards ensuring increased reliability.
Maybe Parsons can start by ordering bargain basement utility wannabe Invenergy to find a route to construct its Grain Belt Express underground on existing rights of way? That would be a huge first step and a truly innovative solution.
Weather is going to happen. But we don't have to have massive electric failure every time it does.
Don't you think it's time to begin undergrounding new transmission lines? Making electric transmission ambivalent to weather events would be a HUGE step towards ensuring increased reliability.
Maybe Parsons can start by ordering bargain basement utility wannabe Invenergy to find a route to construct its Grain Belt Express underground on existing rights of way? That would be a huge first step and a truly innovative solution.
Weather is going to happen. But we don't have to have massive electric failure every time it does.
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