Pacific Gas & Electric Co. was increasing vegetation and fire safety standards even before a Cal Fire report released this month concluded that the company’s electric power lines caused the 12 Northern California fires that burned some 245,000 acres in October.
With Northern California’s deadly wildfires mostly contained, investigators are moving to preserve evidence in the search for the cause of the blazes. Affected homeowners have filed lawsuits alleging that inadequate power-line maintenance may have played a role.
Energy storage is a hot topic in California, where lawmakers are mandating that the state’s three biggest utility companies provide 33% of their electrical energy from renewable sources by 2020. Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric are mandated to buy a total of at least 1300 MW of energy storage to help make the plan work.
