New California forest fires could create a need for even more blackouts, according to a news release about Pacific Gas and Electric’s decision to cut off power in fire-prone areas with windy conditions.

In the past couple of weeks, power cutoffs in northern and central California have occurred twice in an effort to decrease the chances of a blaze. PG&E‘s rationale behind the power cutoffs is that they could reduce the chances of California forest fires that are more likely to occur when the wind is strong.

Repeated shutoff practices have already begun to impact many California residents, some of whom have voiced complaints to the company about the potential number of blackouts this could cause in the future.

California Forest Fires Continue Despite Blackouts

One of the blackouts cut off power for almost two million people and the other impacted around half a million. The company decided to power down their local distribution lines but left the long-distance transmission lines open. The strategy did not prevent a new fire from breaking out near Sonoma County wine country shortly after a 230,000-volt transmission line near the area of Geyserville malfunctioned. A broken jumper wire was discovered on a transmission tower.

While no injuries were reported from this fire, it burned at least 49 buildings and affected over 30 square miles. Around 2,000 people had to be evacuated due to safety concerns. Further investigations have not yet revealed whether or not any faulty equipment could have caused that fire.

Local residents might be interested in keeping abreast of PG&E’s outage schedule to get an idea of how potential future blackouts could impact them. According to company representatives, the shutoff schedule is designed to cut down on the chances that a small spark could turn into a massive blaze. Company representatives stated that turning off bigger transmission lines, such as the one involved in this most recent fire, could reduce electrical grid stability, causing even more outages.

Staff from PG&E say that this is not the only reason they avoid cutting the bigger transmissions lines when doing power shutdowns. These lines are also harder to turn back on when the shutoff is over because everything about them has to be fully inspected before it’s safe to reconnect them and power them up.

PG&E has been the focus of numerous news stories and criminal charges regarding whether or not past California forest fires were caused by faulty equipment or improper maintenance on the power lines and associated machinery.

The CEO of PG&E says that California residents should brace for regular power outages over the coming decade in order to address the fire-related issues. Consumers, however, remain frustrated about claims that the company has not done enough to communicate the blackout information to them, leaving many of them to cope with the fallout from the outages with very little to no notice.

If your property suffered damage in recent California fires that could have been caused by a power company’s negligence, consider speaking with an attorney.

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.