SDG&amp;E told to explain effects of shut-off plan

State regulators want to know exactly how San Diego Gas & Electric's plan to shut off power to rural county residents during times of high fire risk will affect customers.

SDG&E has two weeks to give regulators detailed maps showing who might lose power, a list of fires its power lines have caused going back more than 10 years and an explanation of how those fires were related to dry, windy weather.

“They'll be getting it on March 13, when we answer all those questions,” SDG&E spokeswoman Stephanie Donovan said.

Once it has that information, the California Public Utilities Commission wants to hear from the public during meetings scheduled for April 7 and 8 in Alpine and Valley Center.

“It gives me hope that the PUC is going to take a hard look at this and require SDG&E to establish a causal connection between the shut-off plans and its activities,” said Sophie Akins, a lawyer who represents several water districts and the county school superintendent.

SDG&E announced last fall that it planned to cut power to as much as one-third of the county in an effort to prevent wildfires during extreme weather conditions.

The utility backed off the plan when the PUC asked to review it and after SDG&E was sued by several water districts, which said firefighting efforts would suffer if they didn't have the power to run their water pumps.

When SDG&E formally asked for PUC review in December, it drew protests from the water districts, AT&T, cable operators, wireless phone companies and two divisions within the PUC.

They complained that the costs of the shut-offs may exceed the benefits because without reliable power, people would lack water, cable, Internet and telephone service.

In a memo issued last week, state regulators said they want the details and hope to have a decision by Aug. 20.

SDG&E says it hopes have the shut-off plans in place by Sept. 1 so it can react to weather this fall.

“We're very pleased,” SDG&E's Donovan said. “The CPUC appears to be fast-tracking the procedure.”

The power cutoffs will prevent fires, the utility says.

The company wants to shut off electricity to rural power lines when the National Weather Service has declared a red-flag warning, humidity has dropped below 20 percent, moisture is below 75 percent in living plants and 6 percent in dead brush, and winds are blowing steadily above 34 mph or gusting above 54 mph with steady winds above 29 mph.

Now the PUC is asking for data on each of those conditions over the past few years so it is clear when and where power cutoffs would have happened and how many customers would have been affected.

It also wants SDG&E to say how many fires have been caused by SDG&E power lines going back more than 10 years, and an analysis of whether any would have been prevented if the utility had cut off power.

The PUC also wants SDG&E to explain why cutting power is better than leaving it on, in light of the costs, burdens and risks that a cutoff imposes on customers and communities.


