Ahead of a dry fire season, the state’s largest utility is once again warning customers it may turn off power in some communities to prevent power lines from sparking wildfires.
Last year, Puget Sound Energy, which provides electricity to over 1.2 million customers in 10 counties, announced details for the first time on how and where it could implement preventive blackouts, describing it a “tool of last resort.”
Power line fires have destroyed towns and homes in Washington and nationally have claimed lives. In 2020, five homes were destroyed in Pierce County after a tree fell onto a PSE power line, and Malden in Eastern Washington was razed by a blaze sparked by an Avista-owned power line.
In recent years, utilities have turned to shutting off the power in part to avoid the liability wildfires have brought other utilities. The 2018 Camp fire that killed 85 people in California contributed to the bankruptcy of utility Pacific Gas & Electric, and Hawaiian Electric has agreed to paid around $4 billion after Maui wildfires killed over 100 people.
While most of PSE’s service area does not face high threats of wildfire from overhead lines, PSE has modeled where its infrastructure hasthe risk of utility-caused wildfire when including data on moisture, historical weatherand fuels.
This year, PSE has identified stretches of high risk on Vashon Island, in Ellensburg, Concrete, and Glacier and on parts of Interstate 90, Highway 2, Highway 20 and the Mount Baker Highway.
PSE also uses what it calls “enhanced power line settings” for high-risk areas, which can lead to unexpected blackouts with no warning. These settings make power lines more sensitive to faults or short circuits that can create sparks.
In June, Spokane-based Avista announced it would be adopting a similar setting on its power lines and said it may also implement “public safety power shut-offs” during “extreme conditions.”
With another year of below average precipitation and a low snowpack, summer is anticipated to bring above-normal fire risk to Washington. Above-normal fire risk will expand from the more arid Central and Eastern Washington to Western Washington in July, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
PSE’s director of electric operations Ryan Murphy said the utility aims to give people 48 hours of warning before a potential public safety power shut-off with escalating communications as wildfire risk increases.
Murphy said restoring power could take anywhere from a few hours to days after the dangerous weather passes. All the affected power lines must be inspected before the power is restored, he said.
Blackouts pose the greatest harm to vulnerable residents who rely on life saving electronic medical equipment — such as dialysis machines, ventilators and infant apnea monitors.
Customers should prepare by updating their contact information with PSE. Customers with essential medical equipment at home should make sure they have a “life support status” on their account, which the utility also uses for other operations.
