Sorry, you need to enable JavaScript to visit this website.
Skip to main content
Home
Add to Briefcase

    Secondary navigation

    • Contact Panasonic
    Add to Briefcase

    Breadcrumb

    • Home
    • Green Living
    • Trends & Technology
    • California’s shutting off power to prevent fires. Here are some better options.

    California’s shutting off power to prevent fires. Here are some better options.

    • Contact us
    • Add to Briefcase
      • Twitter
      • Facebook
      • Linkedin
      • Email
    Power Lines

    California’s shutting off power to prevent fires. Here are some better options.

    James Temple

    In the wake of devastating wildfires across California, this essay from MIT Technology Review looks at alternatives to energy shutdowns that may be solutions for the future.

    California’s major utility shut off power across most of the San Francisco Bay Area to prevent fires as dry, windy weather closes in. But surely, the world’s fifth largest economy can figure out a better long-term strategy than periodically leaving hundreds of thousands of people in the dark.

    PG&E hopes that switching off electricity across portions of nearly 30 counties as winds soar in the next few days will prevent downed power lines from sparking major fires. Similar conditions drove several catastrophic blazes – including the Camp Fire last year – that killed dozens of people in the last few years.

    The fires also created tens of billions of dollars in liabilities that drove the utility into bankruptcy.

    Update: Later on Tuesday, PG&E announced it will proceed with the massive shutdown and that it will be bigger than previously planned. At midnight, some 800,000 households across 34 of California's 58 counties would lose power, leaving millions of people in the dark, possibly for days. 

    PG&E began conducting these “public safety power shutoffs” in a handful of counties late last year, but this would be by far the largest shutdown to date. While it sounds absurd that the tech center of the universe can’t keep the lights on, the shutdowns probably are the wisest and safest option available at the moment.

    Electrical power transmission lines and pylons on sunset

    But occasionally switching off the electricity, in this case for as many as 645,000 households, is an unsustainable plan for grappling with fire risks that will continue to rise in California and elsewhere as climate change accelerates. It can bring businesses to a halt, create safety risks for people with medical conditions, and scramble commutes, among other inconveniences.

    There certainly are other ways to ease the risk of fires amid such conditions. They’ll cost more initially, but such costs will need to be weighed against the broader economic impact of power shutdowns as well as the additional reductions in fire risks they could deliver.

    Among them:

    Some argue that particularly fire-prone regions on the wildland-urban interface could disconnect from the larger grid and rely on local renewables generation and storage entirely. Of course, even microgrids still require wires that could fall in a wind storm, but such grids could at least reduce the need for long-range transmission lines that stretch across the state’s remote, wooded regions.

    Use of solar power plants on the roof buildings

    Homes, businesses, and government services in such areas could also install energy storage or solar panels onsite at individual buildings, avoiding the need to connect by wires, but that substantially raises the costs of such systems, says Cody Hill, a California-based energy storage expert. This kind of decentralized generation and storage could blunt the effects of intentional shutdowns, even if it doesn't come close to displacing the larger grid.

    Another option is that microgrid operators or major utilities could bury transmission and distribution lines underground. PG&E has already agreed to do that as part of the effort to rebuild the town of Paradise, California, which was nearly destroyed by the Camp Fire. But it would be expensive, too.

    Meanwhile, some utilities, including San Diego Gas & Electric, are testing technologies that can immediately detect when a line is broken and potentially shut off the power before it hits the ground, as IEEE Spectrum noted in a piece late year.

    But ultimately, downed utilities lines are only one way of sparking fires, and not even the most common one. As the fire season grows hotter, longer, and drier in California and elsewhere, regions will need to make fundamental changes in zoning laws, building standards, forest management, utility tree-trimming practices, early detection and warning systems, and much more.

    Governor Gavin Newsom signed into a law a package of bills designed to prevent wildfires or soften the impacts of shutdowns by, among other things, making homes more fire resistant and subsidizing residential energy storage costs.

     

    This article was written by James Temple from MIT Technology Review and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.

    Related Posts

    infographic banner for Blog
    Homeowner Insights

    Infographic: 5 Advantages of the Total Home Energy System

    Panasonic’s Total Home Energy System provides decades of energy savings and sustainable living. Our new infographic explains the bigger benefits.
    Learn more
    Torrential Summer Rain Storm Water Overflowing Roof Gutters
    Trends & Technology

    What Happens to Your Home Solar System During a Storm

    Homeowners who have invested in solar panels may find themselves wondering: ‘Will I lose power during a power outage?
    Learn more
    an abstract representation of solving problems using artificial intelligence to increase reliability and reduce losses and accidents during the transmission of electrical energy
    Trends & Technology

    Energy Storage Сould Reduce Emissions that Cause Climate Change

    A look at the importance of energy storage on the renewable ecosystem in terms you can understand.
    Learn more
    Scenery of the shopping street in San Jose
    Trends & Technology

    San Jose Latest California City to Ban Gas in New Homes to Help Cut GHGs

    Another northern California town takes a leap in environmental responsibility, signaling further progress toward emissions-free living in the Golden State.
    Learn more
    with @expeditionxdrone
    Sustainability & Environment

    Green roofs can make cities healthier and happier. Why aren’t they everywhere?

    Imagine a world where all the roofs of all the buildings in all the cities across the world were covered in greenery.
    Learn more
    Big Family Garden Party Celebration, Gathered Together at the Table Family, Friends and Children. People are Drinking, Passing Dishes, Joking and Having Fun. Kids Run Around Table.
    Sustainability & Environment

    Shout It From the Rooftops: Solar Delivers Far More Than Renewable Energy

    The benefits of solar power reach beyond eco-friendliness & saving money.
    Learn more
    In this Aug. 8, 2019 photo a worker helps to install solar panels onto a roof at the Van Nuys Airport in the Van Nuys section of Los Angeles.
    Trends & Technology

    The Tech Innovations We Need to Happen if We're Going to Survive Climate Change

    As the dangers of carbon emissions influence decision making, countries are inventing new ways of protecting our planet using eco-friendlier energy technology.
    Learn more
    Parents piggybacking their young children by a mountain lake
    Trends & Technology

    Why home energy storage is on the rise [Podcast]

    The Go Green Radio podcast, hosted by Jill Buck, recently dove into the details of the popular new technology of home energy storage with a Panasonic expert.
    Learn more
    child hand holding a small seedling on the globe, plant a tree, reduce global warming, World Environment Day
    Homeowner Insights

    6 sustainably cool benefits of home energy storage

    Generating your own electricity and gaining independence from the grid is an exciting thought.
    Learn more
    Green Living Young woman stops driving to relax and enjoy the view
    Trends & Technology

    Battery storage: What you need for off-grid living

    Solar battery storage provides one option for moving toward a fully independent electrical system.
    Learn more
    We Are Small
    Trends & Technology

    4 battery storage trends every homeowner should be tracking

    .
    Learn more
    Green Living - PG&E
    Homeowner Insights

    PG&E power shut-offs: Here's what you need to know

    .
    Learn more

    Contact Panasonic

     

    Thank you for your submission. A Panasonic representative will contact you.

    • About Us
    • News
    • Careers
    • Investor Relations
    • Corporate Social Responsibility
    • Contact Us
    Get the Latest on Panasonic Trends

    Thanks for signing up!

    Connect with us
    Twitter Facebook Linkedin Instagram Link Youtube
    © 2019 Panasonic Corporation of North America. All Rights Reserved.
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Terms
    • Panasonic Global
    • Consumer
    • Industrial