Solving problems in the
Wildland-Urban Interface
Joseph W. Mitchell, Ph.D.
Phone: 858 228 0089
Email: jwmitchell@mbartek.com
SOURCE: UNION-TRIBUNE: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2009/may/10/puc-should-deny-plan-outright/?uniontrib
By: Diane Conklin and Joseph Mitchell, May 10, 2009
The shut-off plan is widely disliked — not because it can’t work but because it works for SDG&E instead of for its customers.
Proposed decisions were issued in August. Comments and reply comments opposing the shut-off plan were filed on behalf of MGRA. The cost/benefit analysis initially proposed by M-bar Technologies and Consulting, LLC and other issues raised in our filings were cited as a key reasons for the Commission denial of the SDG&E shut-off plan.
This submission describes current academic work as well as activities before the California Public Utilities Commission on powerlines and wildland fire. Five of the eleven “Black Saturday” fires under investigation by the Royal Bushfires Commission were reportedly due to power line ignitions.
VIEW SUBMISSION
VIEW PDF - Proposed Changes
The 2008-2011 rulemaking instituted by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is intended to make changes to current California regulations in order to reduce the likelihood of power line fire ignitions in hazard areas. Several rules were introduced by MGRA including:
In 2009, California electrical utilities PG&E, SCE and SDG&E proposed creating a formal mechanism through which they could recover liability losses from wildland fires from ratepayers regardless of whether or not they were responsible for starting the fires. MGRA and other parties opposed this proposal, noting that it creates a moral hazard by reducing incentive for safe operation.