California Turns Off Lights to Prevent Wildfires

Companies attempt to take preventative measures against wildfires. (U.S. Air Force)

Two wildfires threatened residents of southern California between Santa Monica and Malibu on October 21, according to Reuters. This news comes one day after Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced its second preemptive power outage to help prevent wildfires in northern California, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Firefighters operated throughout the night to extinguish the fires near the affluent beach-front area, while helicopters and other ground teams worked on carving containment lines around the fire zone’s perimeter and dousing hot spots. Authorities also ordered a mandatory evacuation for more than 200 homes in the Pacific Palisades area. 

Brian Humphrey, the Los Angeles Fire Department’s spokesperson, said that winds were lighter that night, which lessened the potentially disastrous impact of the wildfires. Four people went to the hospital for smoke inhalation or minor burns. The cause of the fire is still unknown.

This came two weeks after a major wind-driven blaze ravaged approximately 8,000 acres in northern Los Angeles, resulting in the evacuation of 23,000 homes. 

Wildfires have become an increasing problem for California, with over 160,000 acres of land scorched in 2019 alone, according to the Los Angeles Times. This issue has not stayed local to southern California, either. 

Energy companies such as PG&E, which powers the northern two-thirds of California, have come under scrutiny for their part in initiating fires amid the rising threat of wildfires across the state. 

The Sacramento Bee reported that PG&E equipment issues may have caused nine small wildfires in northern and central California

To address these concerns, PG&E scheduled a power outage in early October to prevent its equipment from sparking on upcoming days with hot, gusty winds. The company cut power for over 750,000 households and businesses across most of northern California.

This decision received criticism from politicians and the public for PG&E’s poor communication before and during the blackout. According to NPR, Governor Gavin Newsom (DCA) said, “Californians should not pay the price for decades of PG&E’s greed and neglect.” Newsom also called on the company to rebate households $100 and small businesses $250.

PG&E’s second preemptive blackout will affect sixteen counties in the Sierra Foothills and northern San Francisco. The utility reportedly notified 200,000 homes and businesses of a possible power outage. 

PG&E is not the only company to do this. Edison International’s Southern California Edison and Sempra Energy’s San Diego Gas & Electric, which supply most of the power for Southern California, have also joined PG&E in cutting power due to windy conditions but not on the same scale as PG&E. 

PG&E had already filed for bankruptcy in January 2019 to mitigate the potential liabilities that have arisen from the company’s role in initiating wildfires, reported the Wall Street Journal. 

CEO Bill Johnson defended PG&E’s decision to cut power for many northern Californians but assured a higher level of communication between the government and customers to facilitate a less disruptive process. “We recognize the hardship that the recent PSPS event caused for millions of people,” he stated in a letter to the California Public Utilities Commission, according to NPR. 

“We ask our customers, their families, and our local and state leaders to keep in mind that statistic that matters most: there were no catastrophic wildfires,” Johnson also said in this letter, underlining the importance he sees in the blackouts as a preventative measure in fighting wildfires. 

Johnson has said that it could take up to a decade for the company to make necessary technological adjustments that would make preemptive power outages unnecessary.