Case 3:14-cr-00175-WHA Document 1099 Filed 10/01/19 Page 1 of 7 1 2 3 4 JENNER & BLOCK LLP Reid J. Schar (pro hac vice) RSchar@jenner.com 353 N. Clark Street Chicago, IL 60654-3456 Telephone: +1 312 222 9350 Facsimile: +1 312 527 0484 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 CLARENCE DYER & COHEN LLP Kate Dyer (Bar No. 171891) kdyer@clarencedyer.com 899 Ellis Street San Francisco, CA 94109-7807 Telephone: +1 415 749 1800 Facsimile: +1 415 749 1694 CRAVATH, SWAINE & MOORE LLP Kevin J. Orsini (pro hac vice) korsini@cravath.com 825 8th Avenue New York, NY 10019 Telephone: +1 212 474 1000 Facsimile: +1 212 474 3700 14 15 Attorneys for Defendant PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY 16 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION 17 18 19 20 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, 21 22 23 24 v. PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY, Case No. 14-CR-00175-WHA LETTER RE: PREPARATION FOR HIGH WIND SEASON AND NUMBER OF FIRES (GREATER OR EQUAL TO 10 ACRES IN SIZE) Judge: Hon. William Alsup Defendant. 25 26 27 28 Defendant Pacific Gas and Electric Company (“PG&E”) respectfully submits this letter in response to the Court’s September 17, 2019, request for information regarding PG&E’s 1 LETTER RE: PREPARATION FOR HIGH WIND SEASON AND NUMBER OF FIRES (GREATER OR EQUAL TO 10 ACRES IN SIZE) Case No. 14-CR-00175-WHA Case 3:14-cr-00175-WHA Document 1099 Filed 10/01/19 Page 2 of 7 1 preparation for high wind season and the number of fires in PG&E’s service territory ten acres or 2 greater allegedly caused by PG&E’s equipment. 3 I. 4 PG&E Is Preparing for Northern California’s High Wind Season PG&E is continuing to work aggressively to further strengthen its programs and 5 infrastructure to maximize safety and mitigate the potential wildfire risk. To that end, PG&E has 6 implemented several additional measures designed to address the risk of wildfires as a result of an 7 increased likelihood that parts of its service territory will experience drier, higher-speed winds in the 8 coming months. 9 The first component of PG&E’s preparation for high-wind season is its vegetation 10 management program. As the Court is aware, vegetation contact with PG&E’s power lines is the 11 leading source of electric involved fire incidents in PG&E’s service territory given the enormous 12 number of trees with the potential to contact PG&E’s overhead lines. (See Dkt. 976 at 56; Dkt. 1016 13 at 2.) To address this potential risk, PG&E has developed a comprehensive, multi-pronged 14 vegetation management program designed to, among other things, maintain vegetation clearances 15 and abate potentially hazardous trees (the routine program), address risks associated with the drought 16 and tree mortality emergency declarations and resultant directives (the “CEMA” program) and 17 proactively conduct tree work that reduces the likelihood of tree failure that could impact electric 18 facilities and pose a public safety risk (the Public Safety & Reliability (the “PS&R”) program). 19 As discussed with the Court at the September 17, 2019, conference, in addition to 20 PG&E’s routine, CEMA and PS&R vegetation management programs, in late 2018, PG&E began 21 performing enhanced vegetation management (“EVM”) in Tier 2 and Tier 3 High Fire Threat 22 District (“HFTD”) areas. (See generally Dkt. 1091.) PG&E’s EVM program goes well beyond 23 applicable state and federal regulations and is performed in addition to PG&E’s historical and 24 ongoing vegetation management work. The program requires: enhanced clearance requirements (12 25 feet of radial clearance around conductors, even though only 4 feet of clearance is required by 26 27 28 2 LETTER RE: PREPARATION FOR HIGH WIND SEASON AND NUMBER OF FIRES (GREATER OR EQUAL TO 10 ACRES IN SIZE) Case No. 14-CR-00175-WHA Case 3:14-cr-00175-WHA Document 1099 Filed 10/01/19 Page 3 of 7 1 regulation), 1 overhang clearing (pruning to maintain conductor-to-sky clearance within a zone 2 extending 4 feet on either side of conductors, even though applicable regulations permit overhangs) 3 and high-risk tree work (identifying trees tall enough to potentially strike power lines and addressing 4 those that fail a risk-informed tree analysis, even though applicable regulations require removal of 5 only “[d]ead trees, old decadent or rotten trees, [and] trees weakened by decay or disease”). PG&E 6 forecasted that its EVM program would cover 2,455 line miles in 2019. As of September 21, PG&E 7 had completed identified work on approximately 760 line miles. 8 9 PG&E’s ability to complete inspection and clearance of the 2,455 line miles forecasted for 2019 is dependent on its ability to significantly increase the number of qualified 10 personnel engaged in the EVM effort. PG&E is in the process of hiring the additional personnel 11 needed and will continue to monitor the retention process to confirm its resource needs are being 12 met. In addition, as PG&E stated in its Wildfire Safety Plan, the ability to complete the 2019 line 13 miles target to be cleared will depend on various factors including vegetation density, topography, 14 access and environmental considerations. (Dkt. 1004-1 at 75-76.) Moreover, until PG&E inspects 15 the lines, the number of trees that require trimming or removal, which is unknown, could impact the 16 rate at which lines can be cleared. (Id. at 76.) 17 The second component of PG&E’s preparation for high-wind season includes 18 measures designed to make its equipment more fire resistant and/or less likely to experience failure. 19 These measures include PG&E’s Wildfire Safety Inspection Program (“WSIP”), an enhanced 20 inspection program based on an evaluation of key failure modes of transmission and distribution 21 assets in Tier 2 and Tier 3 HFTD and nearby areas. Under the WSIP, PG&E accelerated inspections 22 of transmission, distribution and substation assets in Tier 2 and Tier 3 HFTD areas. These 23 accelerated inspections focused on conditions that could lead to potential fire ignitions and 24 supplement PG&E’s baseline inspection and maintenance procedures. Under the plan, PG&E 25 performed detailed ground inspections and climbing inspections (for towers) that focus on failure 26 27 28 1 CPUC rules recommend pruning to 12 feet to ensure the 4-foot minimum is maintained throughout the year, and the EVM program is intended to adhere to this recommendation. 3 LETTER RE: PREPARATION FOR HIGH WIND SEASON AND NUMBER OF FIRES (GREATER OR EQUAL TO 10 ACRES IN SIZE) Case No. 14-CR-00175-WHA Case 3:14-cr-00175-WHA Document 1099 Filed 10/01/19 Page 4 of 7 1 points capable of visual inspection as well as secondary inspections using drones or helicopters with 2 high resolution imagery for all transmission assets. The inspections were followed by quality 3 reviews designed to properly identify and prioritize any necessary repair work. In addition, Tier 2 4 and Tier 3 HFTD area inspections were designed to identify sag and clearance issues for correction 5 through re-sagging or the installation of spreader brackets, as well as any other conditions that could 6 lead to line slap in areas susceptible to fire for its distribution assets. 7 PG&E is substantially complete with these enhanced inspections and expects to 8 complete inspections of the remaining few assets as expeditiously as possible. PG&E has inspected 9 all 694,250 poles on distribution overhead lines. As of September 21, 2019, of the 49,760 poles on 10 transmission lines, PG&E has inspected approximately 49,695. PG&E also completed 49,461 out of 11 49,760 visual inspections of transmission towers. As of May 8, 2019, PG&E has inspected all 12 transmission assets either visually or by drone or helicopter with high resolution imagery. PG&E 13 has completed 100 percent of the repairs to conditions that presented hazards requiring immediate 14 repair. 15 Finally, PG&E has also been expanding its Public Safety Power Shutoff (“PSPS”) 16 program, which proactively de-energizes a portion of its electric system in the interest of public 17 safety when there are forecasts of gusty winds and dry conditions combined with a heightened fire 18 risk. Beginning with the 2019 wildfire season, PG&E has expanded its PSPS program to include all 19 electric lines, both distribution and transmission, that pass through HFTD areas. After each PSPS 20 event, PG&E evaluates the response to identify areas of improvement and then integrates any 21 lessons learned into its PSPS processes. 22 As PG&E stated to the Court at the September 17, 2019, conference, PG&E expects 23 to de-energize more in 2019 than it did last year. In June 2019, PG&E conducted one PSPS event in 24 two locations on the same weekend, affecting approximately 22,000 customers. In addition, just six 25 days after appearing before Your Honor, on September 23, 2019, PG&E de-energized certain 26 distribution and transmission lines in Butte, Yuba and Nevada counties, affecting approximately 27 22,000 customers. The following day, PG&E de-energized again in seven different counties: Butte, 28 4 LETTER RE: PREPARATION FOR HIGH WIND SEASON AND NUMBER OF FIRES (GREATER OR EQUAL TO 10 ACRES IN SIZE) Case No. 14-CR-00175-WHA Case 3:14-cr-00175-WHA Document 1099 Filed 10/01/19 Page 5 of 7 1 Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sonoma and Yuba. This de-energization affected approximately 2 48,000 customers. Following the de-energization, PG&E crews visually inspected approximately 3 2,785 miles of power lines to assess whether they were free from damage and safe to re-energize and 4 performed repairs on any damaged locations prior to safely restoring service. PG&E was able to 5 restore power to all customers less than 24 hours after the weather conditions indicating a potential 6 fire risk existed had passed. 7 As of September 4, 2019, PG&E has installed more than 160 sectionalizing devices 8 that allow PG&E to limit the geographical impact of de-energization as well as accelerate the 9 restoration process. PG&E is also working with the California Independent System Operator 10 (“CAISO”) to determine how to best minimize impacts on the interconnected electric grid if PG&E 11 needs to turn off high-voltage transmission lines for public safety. Additionally, as of September 30, 12 2019, PG&E has installed over 600 new weather stations in HFTD areas to provide more detailed 13 inputs into its weather models. More geographically granular weather data enables PG&E to more 14 accurately pinpoint regions forecast to experience PSPS conditions, reducing the number of 15 customers in-scope for de-energization. 2 16 II. 17 2019 PG&E’s Equipment May Have Contributed to Nine Fires of 10 Acres or Greater in 18 The California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”) requires investor-owned 19 utilities to submit an annual report of all fire-related “reportable events”, which meet the following 20 conditions: “(a) A self-propagating fire of material other than electrical and/or communication 21 facilities, [where] (b) [t]he resulting fire traveled greater than one linear meter from the ignition 22 point, and (c) [t]he utility has knowledge that the fire occurred”. CPUC Decision 14-02-015. PG&E 23 24 25 26 27 28 2 PG&E knows how much its customers rely on electric service and the impacts of these events on families, businesses and communities—including the use of medical equipment. PG&E understands and appreciates that turning off the power affects first responders and the operation of critical facilities, communications systems and much more. PG&E will only consider proactively turning off power when the benefits of de-energization outweigh potential public safety risks. 5 LETTER RE: PREPARATION FOR HIGH WIND SEASON AND NUMBER OF FIRES (GREATER OR EQUAL TO 10 ACRES IN SIZE) Case No. 14-CR-00175-WHA Case 3:14-cr-00175-WHA Document 1099 Filed 10/01/19 Page 6 of 7 1 therefore compiles data about these incidents, including the potential cause of the ignition, for annual 2 submission to the CPUC. 3 PG&E’s analysis of these events is ongoing and the information below represents 4 PG&E’s current understanding of the potential cause of each of the following fires. As of 5 September 17, 2019, PG&E’s equipment may have contributed to nine ignitions in 2019 that resulted 6 in fires ten acres or greater. The potential causes of those nine ignitions were: 7 • Vegetation: two ignitions 8 • Equipment: one ignition 9 • Third-party: five ignitions (three of which involved animal contact with lines 10 and two of which involved vehicular contact with lines) • 11 Unknown: one ignition 3 12 13 Respectfully Submitted, 14 15 Dated: October 1, 2019 JENNER & BLOCK LLP 16 17 By: 18 /s/ Reid J. Schar Reid J. Schar (pro hac vice) CRAVATH, SWAINE & MOORE LLP 19 20 21 By: 22 /s/ Kevin J. Orsini Kevin J. Orsini (pro hac vice) 23 24 25 26 27 28 3 PG&E does not know what caused this ignition, which ignited on September 1, 2019, and therefore it is possible that PG&E equipment may not be involved. Cal Fire is currently investigating this fire. See California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection, Jolon Fire, General Information available at https://fire.ca.gov/incidents/2019/9/1/jolon-fire. 6 LETTER RE: PREPARATION FOR HIGH WIND SEASON AND NUMBER OF FIRES (GREATER OR EQUAL TO 10 ACRES IN SIZE) Case No. 14-CR-00175-WHA Case 3:14-cr-00175-WHA Document 1099 Filed 10/01/19 Page 7 of 7 1 CLARENCE DYER & COHEN LLP 2 3 By: /s/ Kate Dyer Kate Dyer (Bar No. 171891) 4 5 6 Attorneys for Defendant PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 7 LETTER RE: PREPARATION FOR HIGH WIND SEASON AND NUMBER OF FIRES (GREATER OR EQUAL TO 10 ACRES IN SIZE) Case No. 14-CR-00175-WHA