Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings

EPSS are advanced safety settings.

They allow our powerlines to automatically turn off power within one-tenth of a second. This can happen when there’s a hazard, like a tree branch falling into a powerline, which can cause a fire. These settings are in high fire-risk and surrounding areas.

* CPUC-reportable ignitions in High Fire-Threat Districts on distribution powerlines (compared to the weather-normalized 2018-2020 average).

By stopping ignitions, we help prevent wildfires from starting and spreading.

If ignitions occur, the size of fires are much smaller due to EPSS. In 2022, there was a 99% decrease in acres impacted by ignitions.* This decrease occurred despite dry conditions.

*As measured by fire size from electric distribution equipment (compared to the 2018-2020 average).

These safety settings will be enabled when there is an increased wildfire risk

This is most likely from May to November, but wildfire risk can exist year-round in some areas.

If weather conditions don’t meet the need for EPSS, settings are turned off. This helps to prevent unnecessary outages.

EPSS helps keep you safer, but you may experience unplanned power outages. Many things can cause an unplanned outage. This includes hazards like a branch or animal hitting a powerline. Hazards could cause an outage on any powerline, including those without EPSS. Lines with EPSS help prevent wildfires by turning off power faster.

We do not expect these settings to impact customer bills.

Customer support to reduce the impact of outages

We know it's hard to lose power. That’s why we’re working hard to provide support and reduce the impact of outages. We have resources and tools available to help you.