Wildfire Mitigation Success Touted by Southern California Edison
As I’m sure you already know, wildfire mitigation in California is of critical importance, which is why I was stoked to read about the success that Southern California Edison (SCE) has been having in this capacity. Simply put, the company has made great strides since 2018. Let’s take a closer look.
Details Behind SCE’s Wildfire Mitigation Success
I recently wrote about PG&E’s 2021 Wildfire Mitigation Plan. More recently, SCE filed its own 2020-2022 Wildfire Mitigation Plan with the California Office of Energy Infrastructure and Safety. Overall, SCE claims that its actions have slashed the risk of damage from wildfires by up to 70% compared to 2018 levels.
To quantify this, SCE looked specifically at the number of acres burned. Looked at through this prism, the number of acres burned as a result of forest fires triggered by SCE equipment decreased from 128,000 acres in 2020 to just 500 acres in 2021. As an additional measure, the company estimates that its customer base experienced 70% fewer planned outages (i.e., public safety power shutoff (PSPS) events) in 2021 compared to 2020.
This, of course, begs the question – how exactly did SCE achieve such fantastic results? According to the company, the two biggest needle movers were the installation of covered conductors, and improved vegetation management practices.
Additionally, for the highest-risk areas, the company has been weighing the pros and cons of undergrounding wires as well as a few other emerging fire-suppression technologies such as AI-enabled detection devices, satellite imagery, and even fire-suppression helicopters that can spread 3,000 gallons of water.
One such emerging technology the company has been piloting is something called a Rapid Earth Fault Current Limiter (REFCL), which detects – and deenergizes similar to a GFCI outlet – any wire that has fallen to the ground. REFCLs have been used in Australia for over a decade and have been found to be 10-12 times more effective at suppressing fires in the country versus other mitigation efforts.
Overall, SCE spent over $1.6 billion on wildfire mitigation tactics in 2021 and expects to spend roughly the same amount in 2022. Whatever SCE has been doing has clearly made a huge impact in terms of wildfire mitigation success, and for that the company should be applauded.
