Southern California Edison proposes Grid Safety and Resiliency Program to address wildfire risk
Southern California Edison proposed in a filing with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Monday a $582 million Grid Safety and Resiliency Program (GS&RP) that includes additional wildfire safety measures.
The program includes initiatives to harden infrastructure, improve situational awareness and enhance operational practices.
“We are taking a holistic approach and proposing to implement measures between now and the end of 2020 that will further harden our infrastructure, bolster our situational awareness capabilities and enhance our operational practices,” Phil Herrington, SCE senior vice president of Transmission & Distribution, said. “We also will continue to work with state leaders on policies to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire damages while ensuring equitable distribution of costs.”
GS&RP includes plans to replace approximately 600 miles of overhead power lines in high fire risk areas with insulated wire, install 15,700 current limiting fuses, deploy 160 high-definition cameras that will help emergency management personnel respond to incidents, and install 850 weather stations that will help to forecast weather conditions to within a third of a mile.
It also includes enhanced vegetation management, increased use of infrared inspection for overhead distribution lines and measures to reduce inconvenience to customers related to Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS).
“With both safety and consumer cost in mind, we believe that the portfolio of projects we are proposing will work together to provide a comprehensive approach to further minimize the risk of wildfires and increase the resiliency and reliability of our grid,” Herrington said.
If GS&RP is approved, the monthly bill will increase by approximately $1.20 for a typical residential customer and by approximately 81 cents for income-qualified CARE customers.
