Wildfire Risk Mitigation Vol. Ii: Library

$129.
00
LIBRARY
WILDFIRE RISK
MITIGATION VOL. II
FOR ELECTRIC UTILITIES
A comprehensive compendium of articles from T&D World covering

various areas in which utilities are tackling wildfire threats!
Copyright © 2020 by Endeavor Business Media

All rights reserved
T&D WORLD LIBRARY WILDFIRE RISK MITIGATION, VOL. II
WELCOME
Wildfires were already a growing threat, but a series of new challenges have emerged amidst
a worsening global pandemic in 2020.
In 2019, the California Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) reported 7,860 wildfires, which
ravaged a total area of approximately 260,000 acres and cost the state upwards of $163 million in
suppression efforts alone. In just the first six months of 2020, the department has already reported nearly
3000 individual fires spanning almost 20,000 acres—and the state hadn’t even hit peak season yet. At
Lauren Callaway the time of publishing, the state has now seen over 1.4 million acres impacted as is quickly approaching
2018 records.
At a national level, The National Interagency Fire Center reported that approximately 8.3 million acres
were burned in the 2020 period by mid-October, compared with 4.5 million acres in 2019.
This e-book strives to include a rich overview of the various areas in which utilities are tackling
wildfire threats in their operating territories—areas in which they are eager to share their experience
and knowledge.
If the past nine months have taught the power utility industry anything, it is that even the slightest
vulnerability can open the flood gates to a much larger problem. As wildfire season encroaches midway
through the coronavirus pandemic, utilities need to be more proactive about this risk than ever before.
Lauren Callaway
Senior Editor
T&D World
2 | ☞ GET MORE AT:

Copyright Terray Sylvester/Getty Images
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
BPA Deconstructs the Wildfire Equation............................................................................. 4
Wildfires of Yesterday Drive Innovation Today................................................................. 8
Santa Barbara Prepares for New Normal of Natural Disasters

and Power Shutoffs.....................................................................................................................13
Wildfire Mitigation: SCE’s Approach to Isolating Ground Faults .............................19
Covered Wire Combats California Wildfires.....................................................................23
Linemen Fuel Fight Against Wildfires ............................................................................... 27
WAPA Deploys Low-Tech IVM Methods in the Desert ................................................33

MICHELLE CATHCART, MIKE MILLER
Bonneville Power Administration
BPA DECONSTRUCTS THE

WILDFIRE EQUATION
Bonneville Power Administration engages in a top-down review of its equipment and operations to help
preserve its legacy of safety.
BPA line crews work to replace transmission components on a line north of Salem, Oregon.
T
he images of homes and communities consumed by ADDRESSING VEGETATION
wildfires in Southern California, U.S., in 2018 should
With more than 15,000 circuit miles (24,140 circuit km) of
serve as a stark wake-up call. The real possibility
high-voltage transmission across a service territory encompassing
transmission infrastructure could be the source of a
portions of eight states and roughly 300,000 sq miles (776,996 sq
catastrophic fire poses unacceptable life-safety and
km) in the Northwest, BPA’s fire risk covers a wide geographical
financial risks to utilities and the people they serve. This is
area. Historically, BPA has placed significant attention on
particularly true for those transmission providers in areas prone
vegetation management to reduce the risk of tree-related power
to the effects of a changing climate.
outages. Its focus on wildfires has led the utility to recognize
As wildfires captured the attention of the West in the fall of 2018, the vegetation management program also is essential to reduce
the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) began performing the risk of wildfire. In addition to promoting low-growing plant
a top-down review of its vegetation management program, all communities, aggressive vegetation management practices can
physical assets related to transmission, and the operations of its minimize fuel load in corridors and access roads.
electric system to identify where and how the utility could further
Like all utilities on the West Coast, BPA must adhere to regulatory
reduce the risk of potential fires across its expansive service
requirements on vegetation management as set by the North
territory.
American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and enforced
BPA’s approach is driven by a simple equation: Fuel + Source by the Western Electricity Coordinating Council. However, BPA
of Ignition = Fire. In the absence of sufficient fuel or a source of recognizes those requirements only set a minimum. The utility
ignition, the risk of a fire starting is low. BPA has been working has achieved greater safety and reliability of operations while
proactively to reduce both factors. incurring less financial risk by going beyond what is required, to
achieve what is reasonable and prudent for its service territory.

Its vegetation management crews clear brush in a 50-ft (15-

m) diameter around all transmission structures and apply bare-
ground herbicides by hand within 5 ft (1.5 m) of wood pole
structures. BPA does not permit vegetation maintenance activities
to leave debris that exceeds 18 inches (457 mm) in depth above
the ground in its transmission corridors. Debris in excess of
that 18-inch mark is lopped and scattered to maximize ground
contact and minimize fire hazard. The vegetation clearance in
BPA’s transmission corridors is so robust the corridors often are
used for access to remote areas and as natural fire breaks by the
firefighting community.
BPA’s integrated management approach to vegetation is not
driven just by numbers, though. Timing is equally critical. BPA
schedules its cutting and brush mowing activities during more
temperate months of the year, avoiding the high temperatures and
dry environment of the Northwest in the summer.
BPA’s maintains a 25-foot safety zone between the highest point that
vegetation will potentially grow and the lowest point the power line
will sag under extreme conditions.
While critical for reliability and the safe operation of the electric
grid, BPA’s vegetation management program does have an impact
on natural areas. The utility has strived to improve conditions
for pollinators and threatened species, like Oregon spotted
frogs, in its transmission corridors. For example, the utility
BPA identified transmission components as having an
promotes low-growing grasses, hand mows and cuts nonnative increased potential of being a source of ignition in the event of
vegetation, carefully applies spot herbicide treatments and takes equipment failure.
extra precaution with equipment to avoid injuring the frogs, in
particular.
In September 2019, BPA was recognized as an accredited Right- ANALYZING ASSETS
of-Way Steward by Right-of-Way Stewardship Council (ROWSC) at
its annual Trees & Utilities Conference. Vegetation as fuel is one component of the fire equation. To
address the source of ignition, BPA performed a deep analysis of
its assets to understand how different types of equipment might
fail and the direct consequences of a failure.

Drawing on existing historical data from yearly physical

inspections by ground and air, BPA also increased its use of
inspection methods, such as infrared and corona cameras with
a focus on fire prevention. Using these inputs, BPA developed
a programmatic approach to corrective work, based on the
following:
• Criticality – the importance of the specific piece of equipment
to overall safety and reliability of electric transmission
• Health – the condition of the specific piece of equipment that
helps identify probability of failure
• Risk – a combination of criticality and health that determines
the overall risk to transmission. If a piece of equipment is
very critical but also very healthy or unhealthy but not very
critical, it is a lower risk. A highly critical element that has
low health is the highest risk.
One of the most illuminating pieces of information that emerged
from this work was many of the equipment classes identified as
having a risk of ignition related to failure were already in BPA’s
maintenance workflow. In the past those projects often were
pushed further down in the queue of maintenance work because
they were not seen as critical.
However, after being viewed from the prism of a potential
source of ignition, these backlogged projects dramatically rose
in the queue because of their risk profile. In the spring of 2019,
BPA began an intensive push to perform corrective work on
equipment identified as having the greatest risk. As the summer
progressed, more than 10,000 work hours were spent repairing,
replacing or otherwise mitigating whole equipment populations
across the service territory.
This is not an effort that can be addressed once and then
considered complete. BPA’s understanding of risk constantly is
evolving, as the utility becomes better informed. Moving forward,
part of the utility’s asset management program will entail actively
weighing fire risks when determining the priority of work to be
completed on transmission equipment and facilities.
BPA spent more than 10,000 work hours across its service territory to
UNDERSTANDING OPERATIONS perform corrective work and replace whole equipment populations.
Addressing equipment failure is only one facet of the source
of ignition in the fire equation. The utility recognizes other
opportunities to reduce risk even further, both prior to and
following equipment failure.
BPA has a weather and streamflow forecasting group that
monitors conditions throughout the Columbia and Snake River
basins. This group’s principal charge is to help inform the power
services business line on hydrologic conditions to determine
potential electrical output at 31 federal hydroelectric facilities. The
weather and streamflow forecasting group provides transmission
services with weather alerts during winter conditions that could
impact the work of line crews and substation operators in the
utility’s service territory.

That same skill and capability now is being used to provide COLLABORATIVE LEARNING
real-time data to the transmission field services and transmission
A critical component of BPA’s understanding of fire risk, and
operations organizations, highlighting geographic areas currently
its resultant strategies to reduce that risk, is its collaboration and
experiencing an elevated fire risk based on existing conditions
shared learning with other utilities and subject matter experts. BPA
and current weather forecasts. BPA has changed its operational
actively seeks input from others who share its perspective that
approach to responding to outages based on this weather
regulatory requirements are a starting point—not the finish line.
information as well as the asset risk analysis.
BPA has found many of those voices within the North American
When a transmission line relays out of service, BPA’s system
Transmission Forum, a consortium of utilities across the U.S.
is designed to automatically test or attempt to reclose a line and
that share best practices to improve reliability and safety across
maintain service. Previously, if that initial automatic test failed
the industry. BPA also participates in state and regional wildfire
to reclose the line successfully, its dispatch operators would
forums and panels, which offer the utility an opportunity to
manually test the line one more time. In many instances, whatever
engage in robust discussions of risks and mitigation steps.
may have caused the line to relay out of service is a temporary
Equally as important, BPA has connected at a leadership level
occurrence, for example, a lightning strike or falling tree or limb
with other major utilities throughout the Northwest to continue
that briefly contacted a line but is no longer impeding service.
those conversations.
If that line has components identified as a potential source of
These resources enable BPA to adapt its operational and asset
ignition or the line is located in an area where the environmental
management protocols to reduce the risks of fire associated
conditions suggest an elevated fire risk, BPA’s dispatch operators
with the utility’s equipment and actions. Since 1938, the utility
will not test the line until the utility can get a line crew on scene
fortunately has not been the source of or a contributor to a
to inspect the transmission corridor visually and ensure it is safe
wildfire. By becoming better informed on fire risks and minimizing
to attempt to reenergize the line. While it reduces fire risk, this
fuel load and sources of ignition in its transmission corridors,
new protocol has resulted in longer outages, particularly when
BPA is working actively to prevent wildfires for the benefit of its
the affected transmission lines are located in remote and hard-to-
ratepayers and the people of the Northwest.
access areas.
BPA believes the inconvenience of a longer outage is well
worth the improved safety of its employees and the public. One
aspect of operations the utility has not used yet is the practice
of deenergizing transmission lines as a preventive measure to
address potential wildfires. This practice has garnered significant
media coverage and intense public interest in recent months.
BPA does not preclude the possibility of deenergizing lines if ☞ To view this article online, click here
conditions indicate a clear and imminent threat to life, safety or
system reliability. ☞ BACK TO TABLE OF CONTENTS

BRIAN D’AGOSTINO
SDG&E
WILDFIRES OF YESTERDAY DRIVE

INNOVATION TODAY
SDG&E has focused on innovations in situational awareness, fire hardening and community outreach to keep
its communities safe from future wildfires.
The Aircrane in action.
I
n the era being branded as the new normal, where In October 2007, the U.S. San Diego region experienced
climate change is an everyday challenge, new ways unprecedented levels of destruction from firestorms. At the time,
of thinking coupled with new technologies must be the fires were ranked among the most destructive in California’s
developed to keep pace with the changing environment. history. They were a game changer for the utility, as the flames
Ensuring the safety of nearly 3.6 million San Diegans destroyed 1,738 homes and consumed more than 368,316 acres
who rely on San Diego Gas & Electric (SDGE) to power their daily (149,052 hectares). “Never again” became the rallying cry across
lives, especially in today’s climate, means the utility cannot afford the organization — not just for operations, but for everyone,
to ignore operational and engineering advancements, situational from the frontline employees to the CEO. This rallying cry was
awareness and community engagement. Rather, it makes system transformative because it became a bottom-up mechanism for
hardening, vegetation management and community outreach a change. Employees at all levels were empowered to provide
top priority. insights on how to engineer and operate the system and help
to protect the communities the utility serves. The rallying cry
became personal for everyone at SDG&E.

As part of the utility’s vision and ongoing effort to help reduce

fires in the county’s high-fire risk areas, the SDG&E community
started thinking about how best to design, engineer, construct
and maintain the utility’s infrastructure against the threat of
increasingly violent fires. Since 2007, SDG&E has rolled out
numerous innovative programs centered on building situational
awareness, fire hardening its infrastructure and putting protocols
in place on how to operate when there is a fire risk. Some of the
programs included upgrading more than 18,000 poles from wood
to steel; enhancing the vegetation management plan in place
where 460,000 trees are trimmed and evaluated annually by a
team of highly trained arborists; designing a complimentary new
tool, the Vegetation Risk Index, for operational and emergency
decision-making; forming a new Wildfire Safety Community
Advisory Council; and, most recently, building a Fire Science and
Innovation Lab, scheduled to open later in 2020.
SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
In 2007, the climate change discussion was not nearly what it
is today. But, one thing was clear: Californians were experiencing
climate conditions they had not experienced in previous decades.
SDG&E’s decision to innovate paved the way for bolder decisions
to be made. The utility knew it had a responsibility to its customers
— and its employees — to operate a safe and reliable system.
The conscious decision was made to invest in a meteorology
team, a sophisticated weather monitoring network and
mountaintop cameras to help monitor fires in real time. This
investment enhanced the collective situational awareness of
SDG&E, which the utility shares with first responders.
Over the course of 10 years, the utility developed weather
technology to detect, monitor, and forecast weather conditions
and fire behavior. Today, the amount of data collected and time
in which it is retrieved has improved significantly because of
SDG&E’s use of artificial intelligence (AI), satellite wildfire alerts.
SDG&E’s network of more than 190 weather stations is the
world’s first utility network of its kind, capable of providing reads
on temperature, humidity and wind every 30 seconds, instead of
every 10 minutes. It drives the utility to make more precise, data-
driven decisions to keep its communities safe. The data then is
shared with more than 50 fire agencies that serve the region.
The use of satellites is another groundbreaking undertaking of
SDG&E and a way to track wildfire activity from space. Satellites
enable the utility to identify wildfire locations accurately and help
to increase the safety of electric infrastructure.
AI-based predictive models increase the accuracy of weather
forecasts, which in turn helps to prevent power line ignitions and
enhances SDG&E’s capability to plan and execute public safety Weather station mounted on utility pole.
power shutoffs (PSPS) strategically. Today, the utility leverages
fire behavior modeling and supercomputers to run 10 million fire SDG&E serves a region that encompasses 4,100 sq miles (10,619
simulations daily, so it knows precisely which areas face the most sq km), spread over 25 cities and two counties. With responsibility
potential for catastrophic wildfires given the weather conditions for such an expansive area, personnel often are asked how they
forecasted. keep tabs on the state of vegetation. The answer: with a little bit
of help from AI and outer space.

AI also is used for vegetation management to help digest the Over the past decade, SDG&E has hardened 400 miles (644 km)
large amounts of data the utility retrieves on the 460,000 trees of its transmission system in its high fire threat district (HFTD) by
that the company maintains. Multiply that number by nearly 10 replacing wood poles with more durable and weather-resistant
years of data collection, and there are hundreds of millions of steel poles as well as upgrading to larger conductor and larger
data points that can be analyzed by the utility’s team of arborists spacing between the conductors. Today’s design standard is 85
to yield intelligence and strategic action plans. mph (137 kmph), with 111 mph (179 kmph) for areas with the
This pinpoint accuracy enables arborists and foresters to trim highest fire risk, in compliance with the National Electrical Safety
trees that grow near and around power lines according to species, Code Rule 250C.
typical growth rate and industry requirements. Staying ahead of a To complement fire-hardening efforts, SDG&E also adopted
tree’s growth spurt by using historical weather data, such as the new safety protocols for operating the power grid during adverse
direction and severity of the wind as well as rainfall in a particular fire danger conditions. When the FPI is elevated, all power line
area, is an invaluable advantage. reclosing switches are turned off and remain off until the FPI
About 243,000 of the 460,000 inventoried trees that are in the returns to normal for an extended duration. Reclosers are turned
highest fire threat areas are assessed a second time each year by off in the areas most prone to wildfire to prevent electrical devices
a certified arborist prior to the start of the traditional fire season from automatically reenergizing lines that have detected a fault.
in the fall to ensure safety and compliance. All trees requiring The strategic installations of multiple sectionalizing switches on
attention are then pruned or removed by professionally trained a circuit also enables the utility to act with greater precision and
crews. limit the number of customers impacted by PSPS.
Last year, SDG&E’s meteorology and vegetation management SDG&E’s investments in the installation of these devices are
teams collaborated to create a new tool, the Vegetation Risk Index paying off. For example, a few years ago, turning off a circuit
(VRI). The VRI enables the company to identify high-risk areas segment may have impacted 1000 or more customers. With these
based on advanced analytics of historical tree-caused outages, system enhancements, the utility now impacts an average of 500
meteorological data and tree species profiles. The index is customers per segment and, in some cases, as few as four.
designed to support operational and emergency decision-making.
Decision makers consider the VRI for each circuit before deciding
whether to turn off power to an area during a dangerous fire
weather.
To prepare SDG&E’s daily Fire Potential Index (FPI), the risk of
wildfires in the utility’s eight-operating districts are categorized
in three levels: normal, elevated and extreme. The meteorology
team leverages data from NASA’s MODIS satellites as well as from
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s)
geostationary satellite. These data sources feed into the forecasting
system in the weather center.
The meteorologists also monitor 17 high-definition, livestream
mountaintop cameras as well as help field crews to pre-stage
staffing and resources ahead of extreme weather and fire
conditions. They developed outage prediction and fire science
modeling to do this work.
SDG&E representative meeting with community members at the

FIRE HARDENING SDG&E Wildfire Safety Fair.
Building situational awareness through technological
innovations is only one piece of the puzzle. Another piece is fire COMMUNITY OUTREACH
hardening the infrastructure, while simultaneously adopting new
The third and last major piece of the puzzle is communicating
protocols on how to operate before, during and after fire season
and collaborating with the community. As one can imagine,
as well as on days when the FPI shows extreme risk.
shutting off power during adverse fire weather conditions is
Back in 2007, the SDG&E’s poles were designed to withstand not the most popular move. SDG&E was initially met with
56-mph (90-kmph) winds, as required by the California Public opposition from members of the public, media, some elected
Utilities Commission. Through its meteorological data, the officials and other impacted stakeholders when it first introduced
utility learned there are areas in the San Diego backcountry that deenergization as a wildfire safety mitigation strategy in 2008.
experience greater than 100-mph (161-kmph) wind gusts. As a SDG&E was the first utility to do this and some questioned why it
result, the utility began hardening its infrastructure in those areas. had to turn off power for public safety.
Despite the harsh criticism, the utility did not deviate from this
strategy. It held town hall meetings to communicate directly with
residents in impacted areas, and personnel worked hard to build
credibility and trust with the communities the utility serves and
with its partners.

Another way SDG&E directly engaged with the community was

through its 2019 generator grant program (GGP) pilot, in which
portable renewable-powered battery units were provided to 64
medical baseline registered customers.
SDG&E recognizes PSPS events cause a great deal of
inconvenience and, when factoring in those customers with
medical conditions or who are not as mobile as other customers,
the utility wanted to pilot a program that would help to support
those customers.
The intention of this pilot is to help the most vulnerable
populations, who are a part of the access and functional needs
(AFN) community, become more resilient during PSPS events. GGP
provides the renewable solar-powered battery as an additional
tool in a customer’s emergency preparedness toolkit.
FROM SKY TO GROUND

In 2018, SDG&E added a second aerial firefighting asset, the
Black Hawk. This was in addition to the contracted Erickson S64E
Air Crane, the largest water-dropping helitanker in the U.S. The air
crane can drop 2,650 gal (10,031 L) of water or fire suppressant,
equivalent to what five fire engines can carry. The Black Hawk
flies up to 140 mph (225 kmph) with a tank of water or fire
suppressant while en route to a fire. It holds 850 gal (3218 L) and
refills in 45 seconds.
Both helicopters are available to fire agencies in San Diego and
South Orange counties 365 days a year. So far, the air crane is the
only one with its own Twitter account, @SkyMaverickSDGE.
Additional assets in the sky are drones sent up to inspect
SDG&E’s overhead electric distribution lines and poles located
in the highest fire risk threat areas. The drones are part of the
new drone investigation, assessment and repair (DIAR) program
developed in August 2019.
Historically, SDG&E’s electric infrastructure has been inspected
by ground crews and helicopters. The use of drones enhances
this process in many ways. Fire-prone communities tend to be in
hard-to-reach areas that require treacherous hiking and the use of
helicopters. Because drones can fly close to the power lines and
equipment, they enable crews to get a much closer look to assess
Blackhawk helicopter in action setting poles. and document conditions. If damage is found, crews prioritize
repairs in those areas.
Today, in addition to town halls, community members attend
wildfire mitigation and resiliency fairs. The fairs enable members Moving from the sky to the ground, the tactical command
of the community to engage with SDG&E employees, including vehicle (TCV) is SDG&E’s newest member of the team. The high-
the meteorology and vegetation management teams. They can ask clearance, off-pavement vehicle can be set in motion when every
questions about PSPS and emergency preparedness, as well as minute counts. It can be deployed into the heart of challenging
get a better understanding of what the utility is doing to keep the environments affected by wildfires and is vital to SDG&E’s
community safe. Attendees also receive emergency kit backpacks, safety efforts, as it enables faster deployment and quickly
information about developing emergency plans, and tips on how establishes full internet and satellite phone communications at
to design and modify the space around their home to help resist temporary locations. Mobile connectivity also includes a touch-
wildfire. screen tabletop that enables responders to bring up maps of
the region and critical energy infrastructure quickly as well as
In September 2019, SDG&E formed a 10-member Wildfire Safety
downlink helicopter video footage.
Community Advisory Council to bring together a group of diverse
local leaders from public safety, tribal government, business, Manned by SDG&E employees, the unit can be made available
nonprofit, and academic organizations to provide feedback and to help support on-scene fire command staff, if requested. Using
recommendations on how the utility can continue to help protect the sophisticated communication technology, key decision makers
the region from wildfires. have all the tools necessary to make safe and informed decisions.

FROM TRAGEDY TO ACTION This ongoing process, and having to contend with wildfires,
forces SDG&E to self evaluate and reflect: What is the utility not
Today, SDG&E’s level of awareness and preparation is drastically
looking at that it should be, and what are the opportunities for
different than on that first day in 2007 when the National Weather
change that it has not thought about before?
Service declared a red-flag warning.
Throughout SDG&E’s journey so far, team members have learned
they must have alignment from all levels of the organization, they
need to focus on customer safety and they cannot do it alone. So,
while SDG&E has a process in place that has enhanced public
safety, the utility is not stopping there. It knows there is a need
for ever-evolving advancement, innovation and communication to
protect the region from the threat of wildfire today, tomorrow and
in the future.
☞ To view this article online, click here

☞ BACK TO TABLE OF CONTENTS
SDG&E’s H145 aircraft.

JEFF POSTELWAIT
T&D World
SANTA BARBARA PREPARES

FOR NEW NORMAL OF NATURAL
DISASTERS AND POWER SHUTOFFS
Santa Barbara is working toward making the region more energy self-sufficient in times of disaster.
Santa Barbara is sandwiched between an east-to-west coastline and the rugged Santa Ynez Mountains, which the area’s
lone transmission corridor has to pass through.Sborisov, Dreamstime.com
S
anta Barbara, California, U.S., sits between a south- Wildfires and the damage they cause have kept pace with the
facing portion of the Pacific shoreline and steep crags growth of the area. The 1964 Coyote Fire incinerated 106 homes
of the Santa Ynez Mountains. It is the county seat and and scorched 67,000 acres (27,114 hectares). The small but swift
most populous city in a county that also bears the Sycamore Fire destroyed 200 homes in 1977. The 1990 Painted
name Santa Barbara. Interestingly, it is the birthplace Cave fire burned down 500 homes in just hours, and 2008’s Tea
of the Egg McMuffin, which was invented at the McDonald’s on Fire swept through Santa Barbara and the neighboring town of
upper State Street. It also is home to the University of California, Montecito, destroying 210 houses. In 2017, the Thomas Fire, which
Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara), and a stop on Amtrak’s Pacific became the largest wildfire in modern California history at the
Surfliner line. time, burned 281,900 acres (114,081 hectares) in Santa Barbara,
Santa Barbara is 100 miles (161 km) to Los Angeles along U.S. 1050 structures were lost in all by the time the fire was contained.
Highway 101, which slices through the middle of town. The city’s
historic mission buildings and much of the downtown area were
damaged in a 1925 earthquake, which killed 13 people. However,
the discovery of the Summerland Oil Field and one of the world’s
first offshore oil drilling projects spurred rapid expansion of the
city throughout the 20th century.

With wildfire seasons lengthening, unpredictable rains causing In May 2020, Santa Barbara released an updated draft of its
mudslides and public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) becoming community wildfire protection plan, which contained lessons
the new normal, Santa Barbara and other California cities can learned from recent disasters. Funded by US$310,000 from
no longer rely only on their utility’s transmission infrastructure. the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the
Santa Barbara has started exploring how to become more energy plan expands the coverage of the city’s vegetation management
self-reliant and has developed long-term strategic energy plans to program. Earlier that same month, area firefighters had to combat
build out its local grid capacity. fire as well as pandemic conditions. First responders to the
Hollister Fire near Santa Barbara, which blazed across about 150
acres (61 hectares), sanitized their equipment, worked in small
SUNDOWNERS AND MUDSLIDES groups and firefighters assigned to those groups did not move to
One factor worsening fire conditions in Santa Barbara are the other groups.
infamous sundowners. This local meteorological quirk occurs
when high winds sweep up to 60 mph (97 kmph) straight out of
the north toward the city and the Pacific Ocean, gaining heat and
drying out along the way. They are called sundowners because
they tend to blow when the sun is setting, and they often bring
increased danger during wildfire season.
Sundowners also precede the Santa Ana winds, which typically
arrive a couple of days after sundowners. Santa Ana winds come
out of the northwest and can reach tropical storm strength,
with gusts up to 75 mph (120 kmph). Either of these uniquely
Californian winds can quickly turn a minor scrub blaze into a
conflagration thousands of acres wide before firefighters can
respond.
The July 2016 Sherpa Fire set the Santa Ynez Mountains ablaze
north of Santa Barbara and moved south toward the city as
sundowner winds kicked up at speeds of 35 mph (56 kmph). Homes and streets of a neighborhood affected by the Santa Barbara
County mudslides in Santa Barbara, California are shown, January 9,
The disaster resulted in evacuations of campgrounds and some 2018, from the perspective of a Coast Guard helicopter.David Levy,
residences. Southern California Edison (SCE) responded by Creative Commons
shutting down transmission lines that passed through the fire’s
path, cutting off power to about 20 customers.
In January 2018, heavy rains and flash flooding triggered
mudslides in Santa Barbara County and devastated Montecito,
killing 23 people, washing homes away and temporarily closing
down Highway 101.
STATEWIDE POWER SHUTOFFS

In September and October 2019, SCE shut off electricity to select
areas of Santa Barbara, Montecito and Goleta in a PSPS intended
to prevent high winds from sparking a destructive wildfire. The
utility provided advanced warning of the shutoff and guided the
public to online outage maps, so they could monitor how long
power might be out in their area. According to its website, SCE
allowed customers to file claims for spoiled food and medicine as
a result of the PSPS.
At the same time, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) and
San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) — the other of California’s In Santa Barbara, heavy rains following forest fires sometimes result in
big three utilities — shut off power to about 2.5 million people. mudslides, which threatens infrastructure.trekandshoot, Dreamstime
In the aftermath of the high windstorms, PG&E told U.S. Judge
William Alsup on Oct. 30, 2019, it had identified 44 points along “We’re taking our temperatures daily, actually twice a day we’re
transmission lines where vegetation damaged equipment and taking our temperatures. And we’re doing continued self-checks
would have caused sparks and arc flashes capable of starting throughout the day for symptoms that might be indicative of
a wildfire. In all, the utility found some 300 issues in its post- COVID-19,” Captain Daniel Bertucell told KEYT-TV, channel 3 in
shutdown inspections. Santa Barbara.

TRANSMISSION LIFELINE Vonette Fontaine, spokesperson for the California Independent

System Operator (ISO), said Santa Barbara’s underlying 66-kV
Except for a few outlying areas serviced by PG&E, most of the
transmission system can be used as a backup when the 230-kV
Santa Barbara area falls within SCE’s service territory. David Song,
lines are out, but added that the capability of the 66-kV system
an SCE spokesperson, said the area is connected to the rest of the
is not enough to serve the Santa Barbara load without local
power grid by a pair of 230-kV high-voltage transmission lines,
resources.
but the lines are located on the same set of transmission towers.
The lines stretch across rough, mountainous terrain often beset by “Also, the Santa Barbara area is served by the same transmission
wildfires and mudslides, so there is a risk of knocking out both system that serves the Ventura County area,” Fontaine said. “The
lines at once. planned retirement of the Ormond Beach generation in the
Ventura area is being addressed with the addition of a new 230-kV
“In the event of an outage on both lines, the Santa Barbara/
transmission circuit from Pardee to Moorpark 230-kV substations
Goleta area would lose power until one or both of the lines are
by 2021.”
reenergized, or SCE is able to provide backup service to the area
through its lower-voltage 66-kV system,” Song wrote to T&D
World in an email.
For its part, SCE is aware of the problem and working toward
making the region more energy self-sufficient. On April 26, 2019,
the utility announced it was procuring 195 MW of battery energy
storage for Santa Barbara as well as Ventura, California, which
is just upstream from Santa Barbara from a power transmission
perspective. Colin Cushnie, SCE vice president of energy
procurement and management, said SCE targeted clean energy
resources through an accelerated competitive bidding program
to meet this identified need before summer 2021. The solicitation
results also support SCE’s clean energy vision for California.
According to Song, all the energy storage contracts have been
approved by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
“None of the seven battery storage contracts executed in 2019
to meet local capacity requirements in the Santa Clara subarea
have come on-line yet. While several projects did experience
delays of a few months, all projects are expected to come on-line,
with most projects expected in March and April 2021,” Song said. A diagram of the power feeder map in the Santa Barbara area,
When backup generation is needed in Santa Barbara, the utility supplied by the Clean Coalition.
typically relies on portable diesel-powered generation sets.
In addition to the storage procurement, SCE completed in 2019 A MORE RESILIENT REGION
the Santa Barbara County reliability project, which increased the
For the locals’ part, there is a general sense — despite planned
load-serving capability of the lower-voltage 66-kV system in the
improvements and the grid maintenance completed to date —
event of an outage of both 230-kV transmission lines, Song noted.
Santa Barbara is going to have to look out for itself if it wants to
To boot, he added that SCE is working to make the area more
stop being an energy island. Alelia Parenteau, energy and climate
wildfire ready by replacing bare wires with covered conductors,
program supervisor for the City of Santa Barbara’s Public Works
adding fire-resistant wraps to protect wooden power poles and
department, said the city has weathered a history of reliability
installing more composite poles.
issues. She added that the city hopes SCE’s planned improvements
Also according to Song, during the strong El Niño conditions will address these problems.
in 2015, SCE protected Santa Barbara’s all-important transmission
“Mostly the downtown corridor was plagued with relatively
lifeline with “various proactive measures, including increased
frequent power outages due to outdated infrastructure. These
inspections, reinforcement of structures and advanced staging of
outages could also take a long time to restore,” Parenteau recalled.
equipment.”
“We, and the jurisdictions immediately surrounding us, are at the
end of the line and could experience significant challenges should
SCE’s limited transmission infrastructure fail during a natural
disaster, such as a fire or earthquake.”
According to Parenteau, the city is looking at creating its own
energy assurance pathway in the long term.
A graphic of the Goleta Load Pocket, supplied by the Clean Coalition.

“We are hoping to expand renewable generation facilities

in our area and install storage options that can help carry our
community through times of disaster. This is a major area of focus
of the city’s energy and climate division and a key strategy in
the city’s strategic energy plan, released in 2019,” Parenteau said.
“Basically, we are looking to build up our local grid capacity, so
that we aren’t as dependent on SCE’s transmission infrastructure.
This is a long-term vision.”
A solar powered parking garage in Tempe, Arizona.Thomas Vieth,

Dreamstime
Another problem: In the age of more severe wildfires and PSPS,

a shutoff in the wrong part of Santa Barbara would knock out
power to the rest of the town simply because there is only one
way power flows into town. The solution the Clean Coalition and
others in Santa Barbara are championing is a combination of solar-
A parking garage structure lined with solar panels in St. Paul, plus-storage for maximum energy resilience. Based on internal
Minnesota. Partners in Santa Barbara want to generate 200 MW of models, Lewis’ group estimates the Santa Barbara area needs 200
solar power using parking areas and rooftops.Joe Ferrer, Dreamstime MW of solar power and 400 MWh of energy storage capacity to
get through a loss of its transmission connection without power
Craig Lewis, founder and executive director of the Santa Barbara
interruption. That 200 MW of solar is five times what the area has
Clean Coalition, agrees the city needs to find ways to become more
right now.
energy resilient. The Clean Coalition is a local nonprofit whose
stated goal is to accelerate the transition to renewable energy and
a modern power grid through policy and project development.
According to Lewis, Santa Barbara’s transmission bottleneck can
be blamed on how expensive, dangerous and environmentally
destructive it is to build power lines in the region. Even if a new
redundant transmission corridor were put in on different lines,
the city would still be dependent on power generated elsewhere,
Lewis explained.
“Edison has been very clear: The transmission connection will
go down. It’s when, not if, it goes down. In their filings with
CPUC, they are very clear about this. They say when it goes
down, it could be down for a couple weeks at a time. So, this is
no secret. This is something everyone in the electricity industry
knows about,” Lewis said, adding that the last time this happened
was the Thomas Fire in late 2017.
Solar powered parking canopies in Roodespoort, South Africa.Vanessa

Bentley, Dreamstime
“You might say to yourself, how could that be? Santa Barbara
is thought of as a very environmentally conscious population,”
Lewis said.

He added that California utilities’ refusal to implement a pro- The district wants to meet 94% of its power needs with solar
renewable policy, like a feed-in tariff, has resulted in less solar power, while making the local grid more resilient with energy
adoption than you might otherwise expect in an area with storage and expanding the number of electric vehicle (EV)
abundant sun and green-thinking residents. Put another way, the charging stations. The district is in the requests-for-proposals
Clean Coalition would like to see 15% of all parking lots, parking phase.
garages and rooftops in the area install solar power to help meet Another partner, UC Santa Barbara is working on a community
the 200-MW goal. Lewis said these numbers, along with its maps microgrid. The university also is the primary disaster sheltering
and other data, were developed without any help from SCE and site for the area, so it is deemed critical infrastructure. The campus
are based on the coalition’s own research on the issue. already has about 7 MW of solar capacity but no way to store it
yet.
FINDING PROJECT PARTNERS With wildfire seasons lengthening, unpredictable rains causing
mudslides and PSPS becoming the new normal, California cities
Achieving the 400-MWh goal for energy storage will mostly be must continue to explore new ways to become more energy self-
taken care of by SCE’s planned energy storage projects, noted reliant. They have started taking steps to build up their local
Lewis. grid capacity, so they will not be as dependent on their utility’s
“Edison has already applied for and gotten CPUC approval for transmission infrastructure. At the same time, the big three
280 MWh,” he said. “Getting to that magic number will be easy. California utilities also are working toward making the region
This time next year, we will be 70% of the way there.” more energy self-sufficient.
The Clean Coalition has found partners in its solar build-out in
the Santa Barbara Unified School District, which voted back in
January to build a solar microgrid project across its entire district.
“When our power was out, I had to scrounge for a place
to charge my Leaf, and I realized Santa Barbara is kind of a
desert,” Superintendent Cary Matsuoka told the Santa Barbara
Independent newspaper. “I had to charge at Peabody and then at
some city lots. I learned that it’s a real challenge to charge a car ☞ BACK TO TABLE OF CONTENTS
through public tools.”

THE FIRST EVER
T&D WORLD
VIRTUAL EVENT
Register Online at: leadershipforum.tdworld.com
WILDFIRES
& RISK MITIGATION
December 8-9, 2020
ANDREW SWISHER, JESSE RORABAUGH
Southern California Edison
WILDFIRE MITIGATION:
SCE’S APPROACH TO ISOLATING
GROUND FAULTS
In lessons from Australia, California utility uses resonant grounding on its three-wire distribution system to
prevent fires caused by phase-to-ground faults.
When a tree branch contacts power lines utilizing REFCL technologies, electrical tracking on the branch is seen rather than sustained ignition.
C
alifornia’s wildfire risk has increased in recent years In recent years, Southern California Edison (SCE) has focused
because of climate change, drought, increased most of its wildfire mitigation projects around the prevention of
development in the wildland-urban interface and the electrical faults by such measures as installing covered conductor
significant buildup of fuel, including on federal and and insulating spacers between phase conductors. These methods
state forest lands. The full magnitude of the increased are highly effective at reducing the probability of ignition by
threat and significance of its consequences did not become fault avoidance, particularly for contact-related faults and those
apparent until 2017, when the state experienced five of the most involving two or more phase conductors. These measures prevent
destructive fires in its history. This was compounded in 2018 by the majority of but not all incidents, particularly equipment-
three more such fires. Eight of the 20 most destructive wildfires in failure-related faults.
California’s history occurred in those two years, destroying more
than 31,000 structures — double the number consumed by the
other 12 fires. California’s wildfire risk had increased to the point
where the safety of its communities required additional measures.

SCE needed additional transformative measures to minimize the Of the REFCL devices tested, only the ground fault neutralizer
chance of a fire when an unforeseen event occurs, such as a car met all the Victorian ignition criteria. Based on the success of
hitting a pole, a transformer failing from a manufacturing defect that testing in the laboratory environment, the major utilities
or a large tree falling into a power line. Therefore, it benchmarked were mandated to convert 45 substations. This work is more than
with utilities in the Australian state of Victoria, one of the most one-third complete, with Australian utilities having successfully
fire-prone areas in the world, to learn how rapid earth fault converted 21 substations feeding more than 5500 miles (8851 km)
current limiters (REFCLs) can reduce the risk of ignition by faults of 22-kV circuitry.
involving a single phase conductor.
THREE-WIRE CIRCUITS
VICTORIAN LEARNINGS While SCE actively is investigating the application of ground
Extensive testing of REFCLs by Victorian utilities has resulted in fault neutralizers for fire-ignition prevention, some limitations
a set of criteria that, if followed, can reduce the risk of ignition for make it difficult to deploy on a large scale. One disadvantage of
faults involving a single phase conductor by at least 90%. REFCL systems is, when in operation, the good phases experience
These criteria start with the requirement of being able to detect overvoltage to the phase-to-phase voltage of the system at the
faults as small as a half ampere and otherwise concern the speed same time the faulted conductor is deenergized. This has little
at which voltage must be reduced once a fault is detected to impact on most new distribution equipment, as it has significant
prevent ignition. insulation margin, but older equipment sometimes must be
The Victorian utilities then proceeded to test the best replaced as part of the conversion.
commercially available products capable of reducing ground The technology also only works if all the circuits fed by the
current. These included resonant grounding with an arc- substation bus are three-wire circuits without a neutral. This
suppression coil, ground-fault neutralizers that use an inverter in requirement is a prohibitive limitation for some, as most North
parallel with an arc-suppression coil to further reduce the fault American utilities build primarily four-wire circuits. However, SCE
current, and faulted phase earthing, where the faulted phase is and, to some extent, other California utilities are well positioned
grounded immediately after a fault is detected. as they built a grid with more three-wire distribution systems
Unlike with circuit breakers and fuses that have extremely than are generally found in North American electric utilities. This
sensitive settings, REFCL technologies have the advantage that practice is like that of most European and Australian utilities,
power still can be provided to customers during ground fault where distribution transformers typically are connected between
events. Electric service reliability improvements can be realized phases and the neutral does not leave the substation.
with this system, most notably the lack of circuit interruptions Even with the large amount of three-wire distribution lines
or outages for faults transient in nature, as commonly seen with SCE operates, major upgrades would be required for deployment.
wildlife contact. Only when a fault is permanent does a circuit Much of the SCE’s three-wire circuitry is outside the high-risk
breaker open to deenergize the customers. This means the system areas yet still must be modified to enable the ground fault
can increase the sensitivity of the protection and electric service neutralizer to operate. Often, this means replacing vintage
reliability at the same time. equipment no longer in good enough condition to withstand
the overvoltages. In some cases though, particularly with phase-
to-neutral connected distribution transformers, this will require
replacing equipment that otherwise would be good for decades
of continued service. This conversion of four-wire to three-
wire circuitry adds considerable scope at SCE beyond what was
required in Australia because all 22-kV transformers in Victoria
are connected phase to phase.
SCE also shares many other implementation challenges faced
by Victorian utilities, including balancing system capacitance,
substation physical footprint constraints and a host of equipment-
specific issues, such as surge arrester and potential transformer
ratings to name a few. For these reasons, SCE also has investigated
other alternative technologies with similar benefits as part of its
commitment to California’s Wildfire Mitigation Plan.
Metallic balloons contacting power lines typically result in an intense

arc flash. With a resonant grounded isolation transformer the ground
fault energy was reduced to the point that balloons often don’t even
pop.

ISOLATION TRANSFORMER
To further expand the range of circuits on which REFCL can
be deployed economically, SCE developed a viable way of using
resonant grounding for prevention of ignition by creating the
resonant ground on the load side of an isolation transformer
(patent pending). In this case, an isolation transformer is installed
near the boundary of a high-risk fire area so all circuitry beyond
the transformer is covered.
Resonant grounding an isolation transformer near the edge
of a high-risk area rather than at the substation offers several
advantages:
• Single line to ground fault current is reduced compared to
installing the arc-suppression coil at the substation. When
installed in the substation, the fault current is the sum of
charging current of all circuits fed by the substation bus. When
applied at an isolation transformer, the current feeding the
Even low fault currents do not complete eliminate the risk of ignition, fault is only the charging current of the circuitry downstream
particularly when all the current is concentrated into a small contact from the isolation transformer.
area. In this case sustained ignition resulted from only 176 mA into a
14.5 inch test cell. • Whenever a fault occurs, the overvoltage only happens on
the load side of the isolation transformer, rather than every
RESONANT GROUNDED SUBSTATIONS circuit fed by the substation bus. This reduces the conversion
cost substantially, as four-wire circuitry with phase-to-neutral
The most common REFCL technology is resonant grounding, connected transformers and equipment not rated for the
where an arc-suppression coil (Petersen coil) is connected to the overvoltages can remain on the lower fire-risk parts of the
transformer neutral to reduce fault currents to less than one-tenth circuit.
of that found on an ungrounded system. Resonant grounding
• Protection is simplified. It is challenging to determine which
has been applied to thousands of substations and is particularly
circuit a fault is on when the fault current is so low. When
common in central Europe, where it is used to increase the
the isolation transformer is resonant grounded, protection for
reliability and safety impacts of ground faults. Unfortunately,
ground faults can consist entirely of voltage measurement on
resonant grounding at the substation was determined by the
the neutral. When the voltage is above a set point, the circuit
Victorian testing to be insufficient at reducing fault current to a
trips.
level that would prevent ignitions. Even with currents under 10
A, contact from vegetation or dry grass consistently resulted in To scale this system to a wide range of circuits, additional
ignition. problems need to be addressed. If a typical delta-wye isolation
transformer bank were used, a phase angle difference would
When comparing the SCE system to the 22-kV distribution
prevent paralleling with other circuits. This would limit applications
systems in Victoria, it was noted Australian utilities operate higher
to circuits without normally open ties to other circuits, and delta-
system voltages and longer distribution lines. Therefore, the fault
delta or delta-zigzag transformers would be required. Also, to
current for resonant grounded distribution networks was found
address aesthetic concerns, a pad-mounted solution would need
to be much lower for SCE than it was in Victoria. On some SCE
to be designed for both the transformer and arc-suppression coil.
substations, resonant grounding alone reduced the fault current
to approximately 1 A. Where relays were timed to clear faults
within two seconds, the Victorian ignition targets all were capable IGNITION TESTING
of being met.
Before making the investment to develop and deploy the
Despite resonant grounding being an attractive option for these resonant grounding system with an isolation transformer, SCE
small substations, it presents a significant technical challenge. The had to empirically validate the system was effective in reducing
faulted circuit must be identified with minimal fault current. Few incidence of ignition. While initial calculations suggested it would
products on the market even claim to be able to detect such small be effective, the lack of experience with such systems created
magnitude faults. While SCE is converting a substation to resonant some uncertainty in how they would perform. Thus, the utility
grounding to determine whether implementation is practical, decided to install and resonant ground an isolation transformer at
the protection is only certain to identify the appropriate circuit its equipment demonstration and evaluation facility (EDEF).
for substations with only one distribution line per transformer.
This testing first showed the system could meet the Victorian
In these substations, it is not necessary to determine the circuit
REFCL criteria. The protection consistently opened the circuit
on which a fault occurs; the circuit breaker can be opened just
within two seconds and, until that point, the natural reduction in
knowing a fault is present. The presence of even extremely low
voltage from resonant grounding was sufficient to meet the other
magnitude faults can be determined reliably with a measurement
requirement. This was the best evidence the system prevents
of .
ignitions in at least 90% of single line to ground faults, because
the criteria are based on hundreds of tests in worst-case fire
conditions.

The ignition criteria were developed with a ground fault In the faults with down wires in grass, two out of 24 tests
neutralizer in mind though, so SCE also wanted to confirm the resulted in ignition, one from only 126 mA into the grass. Even
results by reproducing common ignition scenarios. Down wires this probably understates the effectiveness though. Real-world
in contact with dry grass and phase-to-ground contact from scenarios typically result in a much longer length of conductor in
tree branches, guy wires and Mylar balloons were chosen as contact with the ground than the 14.5-inch (368-mm) test cell. The
representative of ignitions seen in California. longer length acts to reduce the current density and voltage on the
conductor. Therefore, these results are likely to be conservative.
No ignitions were produced in any of the 29 phase-to-ground
contact tests performed. No burning wood or falling molten metal
particles larger than 2 mm were observed in any of the tests. Faults
that were inches above dry grass did not even scorch the grass.
The fault energy was low enough that, in some tests, the metallic
balloons made contact for up to 15 minutes without even popping!
Brief (approximately 2-msec) faults occurred and self-extinguished
until enough metallic coating was removed that arcing stopped
entirely.
REFCL PILOTS
This testing demonstrated resonant grounding can be a viable
way to prevent fires if installed on a small substation or an isolation
transformer. This is only the third technology demonstrated to be
able to meet the Victorian REFCL ignition criteria.
As a result of these successes, SCE chose to add three REFCL
pilots to its 2020-2022 wildfire mitigation plan: A ground fault
neutralizer that builds directly on the work in Australia, a resonant
grounded substation and an isolation transformer.
Initial rollout of the isolation transformer will be with
ungrounded delta-wye connected transformers. This enables
existing hardware to be used to meet the REFCL criteria on a
section of a circuit. Development is ongoing to obtain delta-zigzag
pad-mount transformers and arc-suppression coils sized to the
distribution application. This technology will enable scaling to
dozens or hundreds of installations.

1. Solidly grounded systems have a low resistance path back to the
transformer neutral resulting in high fault currents. 2. Disconnecting
the neutral from ground results in lower fault currents, but capacitive
“charging” current on the energized phases still produces appreciable
current that feeds into the fault. 3. Resonant grounding redirects more
than 90% of the remaining fault current on an ungrounded system
away from the ground fault and instead collects at the substation
ground grid where it can be safely discharged. 4. The Ground Fault
Neutralizer uses power electronics along with an Arc Suppression Coil
to collapse the voltage on a faulted phase while redirecting power to
the intact phases.

JEFFREY BARBER, ERIC CARDELLA
Bear Valley Electric
COVERED WIRE
COMBATS
CALIFORNIA
WILDFIRES
Bear Valley Electric Services becomes the first
investor-owned utility to install FR-NP covered wire
to help prevent wildfires in its mountainous territory.
Bear Valley Electric Services pulls FR-NP wire throughout its territory
as a fire-hardening strategy.
W
ildfires in the U.S. are now a year-round threat for many INVENTING A COVERED CONDUCTOR
California communities like Big Bear and Bear Valley,
In 2018, when wildfires were destroying the lives and livelihood
the mountainous Southern California area serviced by
of thousands of people across California, utilities began looking
Bear Valley Electric Services. Full of historic trees, dry
at covered conductor as a method to reduce fires. At the same
brush and an aging grid, the utility’s territory has a
time, Priority Wire & Cable Inc. (PW&C) began exploring new
very high fire risk.
products and designs to meet the needs of utilities searching for
Bear Valley Electric Services (BVES) has been laser focused on ways to combat wildfires. Brian Yu, vice president, engineering
fire mitigation since 2018, when wildfires became catastrophic and international operations at PW&C, recognized a potential flaw
in California. As an investor-owned utility (IOU) in the state, in the approach most utilities were adopting. This is when the
BVES is required to file a Wildfire Mitigation Plan (WMP). The idea was born to design a new FR-NP covered wire technology
requirement was developed under regulatory discretion by the that specifically would deter the spread of wildfires, mitigate their
California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and designated by impacts and, ultimately, help utilities to address them.
Senate Bill 901. It was signed into law in September 2018 as an
The challenge with traditional utility distribution wires
amendment to Public Utilities Code 8386.
and cables is multiple environmental and durability factors —
BVES strives to exceed requirements in its WMP by using a including sunlight and weather resistance, dielectric strength,
variety of safety, fire-hardening and grid-hardening strategies to tracking resistance, the ability to withstand thermostress and the
reduce and eliminate the risk of wildfires. As drought and dryness safety of personnel — impact their effectiveness.
are expected to continue across California for years to come,
the utility is taking measures to protect lives and the land. For
example, BVES became the first IOU in the U.S. to install fire-
resistant-non-propagating (FR-NP) covered wire across its service
territory. The FR 394.5 all-aluminum alloy conductor (AAAC) wire
replaced existing 34-kV lines running throughout the utility’s high
fire-threat areas, such as the San Bernardino National Forest and
Bear Valley mountains.

BVES first tested the wire with a 10,000-ft installation pilot in a

high-fire-risk area of its service territory in the fall of 2019. Once
the utility saw the value FR-NP covered wire provided, it moved
forward with the next round of the pilot, installing 120,000 ft of
covered wire down Highway 18, one of the three exit routes from
Big Bear mountain.
BVES had a crew of linemen on each side of the project
connecting the new FR-NP covered line wire to the existing wire
to feed it through the system. Two linemen were in the air at each
end of the line while one lineman stayed in the reel trailer and
another was stationed on the pulling trailer. Also, one lineman
stayed at each end working as groundmen for the linemen in the
air, and one crew foreman oversaw the installation.
To install FR-NP covered wire, the crew of linemen use reel and pulling
trailers and a specialized stripping tool.
Standard covered wires are made of thermoplastic or cross-

linked polyethylene. They do not have any flame resistance, so
they burn readily. As they burn, they drip flaming particles onto
the brush underneath the wire, which can cause secondary fires,
especially in rural and wooded areas like Bear Valley. Not only
does the thermoplastic or cross-linked polyethylene drip, but the
fire propagates horizontally along the line of cable.
In contrast, the FR-NP covered wire from PW&C is designed
to greatly reduce the spread of wildfires along distribution lines
by reducing the opportunity for secondary fires, caused by the
BVES first tested the wire with a 10,000-ft installation pilot in a high-
horizontal propagation and dripping of flaming material in fire-risk area of its service territory in the fall of 2019.
traditional covered wires. The patent-pending technology exhibits
self-extinguishing properties under typical wildfire conditions
INSTALLING THE CABLE
and is formulated using a special jacketing material that meets
environmental, physical and dielectric property challenges. It When installing the FR-NP covered wired across its high-risk-
also has successfully passed and exceeded the Underwriters fire territory, BVES first needed to secure the proper equipment.
Laboratories (UL) vertical flame tests FT1 and VW-1 and horizontal The installation of the FR-NP covered wire requires a different
flame test FT2. type of preparation using a specific stripping tool, similar to that
An added benefit of FR-NP protection is it enables utilities to used when stripping insulation on underground cross-linked
maintain their power supply much longer during a fire. Therefore, polyethylene cable.
they can restore power to affected communities much faster. BVES had to assemble the right crew for the job. Under the
direction of the field operations supervisor, BVES ensured the
most knowledgeable crew members were placed on the job for
INNOVATION IMPLEMENTATION the installation. Next, the IOU had to use due diligence in planning
BVES first discovered the technology by meeting with Nate and designing for the heavier weight load of covered wire vs.
Schwegman and Steve Lesch from Pacific Power Reps (PPR), a traditional wire as well as wind loading. The crew adjusted span
manufacterer’s representative company, at an industry trade show. distances between poles to compensate for the slight increase
At the time, PPR was working with the California Department in weight of the covered conductor. Because wind loading is
of Forestry and Fire Protection on a product demonstration for mandatory in California for pole loading, this was one method to
the PW&C FR-NP covered wire. Following the event, a BVES ensure the utility met or exceeded the CPUC’s General Order 95
supervisor introduced it to his team for investigation, and they wind loading safety factors.
looked further into the testing. Once the crew made the necessary adjustments, installation
PPR, Wesco Distribution and PW&C organized a demonstration was simple and like that of most any covered wire. Any challenges
to showcase what happens to standard covered wire when it is stemmed from the fact the BVES territory is a mountainous area
ignited. Because it can drip flaming compound on the ground where snow, rainstorms and other weather events are the main
underneath, it can quickly exacerbate a utility’s problem regarding deterrent.
fire mitigation. After the demonstration, the BVES team decided to
incorporate FR-NP covered wire into the pilot portion of its WMP.

LOOKING AHEAD
The utility’s primary focus is safety and, as such, the reason
it is installing the FR-NP covered wire is to stop or slow the
spread of wildfire, increase the safety of its community, crews
and firefighters, and mitigate any potential for fire reaching other
areas inside or outside the Big Bear area.
BVES based each of its fire-hardening strategies on the threat
to its specific terrain and makeup of its tight-knit community.
For example, during the pilot project, the utility covered its high-
vegetation field areas that could provide the most fire-hazard fuel
should a wildfire break out.
In addition, BVES crews now are installing FR-NP covered wire
on the remaining exit routes out of Bear Mountain. By keeping
Highway 18 open during installation, the fire marshals and
residents have access to the exit routes in the valley so they do
not become trapped by a growing wildfire.
Now that BVES has installed the first two sections of the pilot
project, the utility is seeing greater interest from its investors
and other utilities that are interested in learning more about the
covered wire technology. Often, larger IOUs are the first to test
and install new innovations, but BVES opted to install the FR-
NP covered wire ahead of other IOUs to provide an extra layer
of protection the 24,000 year-round residents and 100,000+
weekend visitors who travel to Big Bear mountain for recreation
year-round. Because the utility’s linemen and other employees
live in Bear Valley, they are doubly invested in the program to
keep the community safe.
The FR-NP covered wire is just one of the solutions BVES is
implementing for its fire-hardening strategies. The utility, which
operates primarily in a national forest with aging trees and an
aging grid, has replaced many of its wooden crossarms with
fire-resistant composite crossarms from Creative Pultrusions and
Once the crew made some necessary adjustments, installation was invested in fire-resistant fiberglass and steel poles. In addition, its
simple and like that of most any covered wire. linemen have installed transformers with internal fault detectors
(IFDs), emission-limiting fault fuses, ClampStar fire-resistant
To dispatch its crews, BVES scheduled around weather
splice and connector clamps.
conditions. The realistic window for fire hardening at BVES is
April through October, but it always strives to stay ahead of its
fire-hardening plan and remain proactive when implementing
its strategies. Regardless of the time of year, the utility took the
opportunity to install the new wire at the first signs of a clear day.
A BVES crew pulls the wire through on the job.

TAKING A PROACTIVE APPROACH

Beyond replacing traditional wire with covered wire in a
pilot program, Bear Valley Electric Services (BVES) also has
implemented the following programs to further safeguard its
mountainous territory from wildfires:
1. Vegetation Management. Arborists are cutting back trees
and limbs to a minimum radial clearance of 72 inches (6 ft) from
conductors, going beyond the state standard of 48 inches (4 ft).
2. Suspect Tree Removal Program. Vegetation management
professionals are removing all dead and rotting trees as well as
those with the potential to fall on lines, even if they are outside
the required clearance zone.
3. Equipment Upgrades. BVES has installed 10 weather
stations in high-fire-threat areas and will install 10 additional units
to assist in monitoring weather patterns and collecting real-time
data.
4. Tree Attachment Removal. Crews are removing all pieces
of electrical infrastructure fastened to trees for BVES first tested
the wire with a 10,000-ft installation pilot in a high-fire-risk area
of its service territory in the fall of 2019 infrastructural support to
reduce the risk of hot equipment making contact with trees.
5. System-Wide Grid Automation. To expedite the
detection and isolation of system faults, the utility is enabling
remote monitoring of the grid.
6. Operational Improvements. To ensure pole failures are
identified and addressed faster, BVES is increasing the number of
power poles it evaluates each year to 2000 through its pole loading
and asset remediation program. The utility also is intensifying its
overhead line predictive maintenance program by using infrared
sensors to identify locations in overhead lines at risk of failure.
The FR-NP wire, which is shown installed above, does not drip flaming 7. Public Power Safety Shutoffs. BVES has permission
compound like standard covered wire upon ignition. from the state of California to proactively shut off power in
high-risk areas during extreme weather conditions to reduce the
While most of the efforts are common-sense upgrades given risk of wildfire and protect the safety of customers, its families
BVES’s current state of wildfire threat, some require new mitigation and property. Should deenergization take place, BVES alerts
efforts, forward-thinking and innovative technology as well as new customers, local government and safety officials while keeping
ways of operating the system. For example, the utility’s smart the community updated on evolving weather conditions.
weather stations communicate in real time. The utility also plans to
install system-wide grid automation on its 34-kV system in 2020.
Looking to the future, BVES is focused on the mitigation
of wildland fires by implementing a variety of fire-hardening
strategies. In a short period of time, the IOU has made strides in
its WMP, and it is continuing to work to put an end to devastating
wildfires in California, but it cannot do it alone. Fire hardening is a ☞ To view this article online, click here
team effort, and utilities must be in it together for their customers ☞ BACK TO TABLE OF CONTENTS
and their communities.
Editor’s Note: View a video at www.youtube.com/
watch?v=FbT9iQzyp20 or visit www.tdworld.com/wildfire to
view a photo gallery of BVES installing the FR-NP wire on a pilot
project.
For more information:

Bear Valley Electric Services | www.bves.com
PPR | https://ppreps.com
PW&C | www.prioritywire.com

AMY FISCHBACH
T&D World
LINEMEN FUEL FIGHT AGAINST

WILDFIRES
Line crews are installing new technology and hardening systems as part of their utilities’ wildfire
mitigation measures.
A large spindle of covered conductor rolls out as SCE linemen in bucket trucks replace bare wire with the new lines,
which help mitigate the threat of wildfires.
N
early 3,000 California wildfires scorched almost 20,000 Like other California utilities, SCE was required to file a Wildfire
acres in the first six months of 2020, according to CAL Mitigation Plan (WMP), and linemen play a critical role in the
FIRE. California’s wildfire season may typically span mitigation efforts outlined in this plan, said Steve Sprague, SCE’s
from May to October, but Southern California Edison interim region manager of North Coast. Due to the nature of their
(SCE) involves its linemen in its mitigation efforts all jobs, linemen must require proficiency on the latest construction
year. standards, the most up-to-date tools and the newest processes
“SCE is a beehive of activity year-round focused on wildfire available to them. They also must provide assistance and critical
mitigation,” said Cameron McPherson, senior manager of grid information to the support organizations, including SCE’s Incident
resiliency for SCE. “The majority of these field activities require Management Team, Fire Management team, along with Damage
the relentless hard work and experience of our electrical workers. Assessment Teams throughout an incident. Finally, by coaching
We would not be successful without their tireless efforts and and mentoring their crew members, linemen can help to provide
dedication.” safe and reliable service to SCE’s customers and communities.

“Their knowledge and experience from their years of PROACTIVE PLANNING IN CALIFORNIA
performing line construction work provides them the expertise
SCE has been powering California for more than 130 years, and
to perform the critical work of service restoration in a safe and
its service area spans 50,000 square miles. This territory features
professional manner to customers and our communities,” Sprague
a diverse blend of assets, geography, weather, fuel conditions,
said. “Linemen are key players in SCE’s approach to proactively
jurisdictional authorities and environmental conditions.
mitigating wildfires through the inspection and reporting process
to identify equipment, facilities or conditions, which might need “System hardening efforts such as covered conductor
repair or replacement.” deployment is a cornerstone of our program,” McPherson said.
“However, the diversity of our service territory requires a more
dynamic multi-pronged approach. One of our best practices is the
balanced approach to wildfire mitigation where we leverage a set
of methods across our foundational strategies of grid hardening,
enhanced operational practices and more granular situational
awareness.”
SCE’s foundational activities include installing covered
conductor in place of bare wires and inspecting overhead
transmission and distribution lines and equipment—both from
the ground and aerially via helicopter and drone. In addition, SCE
focuses on pruning vegetation, removing hazard trees, installing
additional weather stations for enhanced situational awareness
and the activities around reducing the impacts of Public Safety
Power Shutoffs (PSPS) on its customers.
SCE’s strategy and tactics change with the evolving wildfire and
climate change threats. For example, the utility shifted from a
compliance-oriented framework to a risk-informed framework to
focus its efforts on the areas and structures with the highest risks.
A Southern California Edison lineman is in a bucket truck installing
covered conductor around distribution equipment. Covered
Also, the utility has enhanced its situational awareness. By better
conductors are a critical aspect to wildfire mitigation work. understanding what is happening in the environment around its
assets and how it affects operations, SCE can more effectively
assess system risk. These risk assessments help SCE to stage or
tier its operational practices—such as blocking reclosers and
enabling fast-curve settings—commensurate with the threat to its
system and the communities it serves.
“The best strategy is likely a risk-informed one with a balanced
suite of tactics, including grid hardening, enhanced situational
awareness, and advanced operational practices, all while keeping
a close eye on new and advanced technologies to advance
innovative solutions,” McPherson said.
Some of SCE’s challenges stem from its vast array of overhead
assets in high fire risk areas, which include more than 300,000
structures connecting about 14,000 circuit miles of conductor in
areas at an elevated risk for wildfire.
“Analyzing the problem through a risk-informed lens enables
us to focus our workforce on the equipment that needs the
most attention, and in the areas most susceptible to ignitions,”
McPherson said. “Using a risk-informed strategy to plan grid
SCE vegetation management personnel prep a tree for trimming. hardening, inform operational strategies and deploy situational
awareness tools helps us better tackle the challenges that come
McPherson expects to have a challenging fire season for the with a vast expanse of assets in high fire risk areas.”
remainder of 2020. SCE has always embraced the use of new technology to improve
“Late winter and spring rains kept live fuel moisture at relatively the operation of the system. Today, the utility has a vast array of
high levels until the beginning of June, and fuels are now rapidly field-deployed technologies to help prevent and mitigate the risk
drying out with some record-breaking heat,” McPherson said. of wildfires. For example, SCE currently operates a dense network
“Above normal temperatures are expected through the rest of the of automatic reclosers, nearly all of which can be remotely
year. Additionally, the COVID-19 situation has introduced another operated, and many of them are configured to intervene much
layer of complexity that we are dealing with.” more quickly to reduce fault current.
Enhanced situational awareness, primarily through a dense
network of weather stations and high-definition cameras,
represent the utility’s latest and most transformational change.

“The data from this system is now being used to make

operations more efficient and effective, assess risk at the
circuit level, and refine our weather modeling and forecasting,”
McPherson said. “Most exciting are the new technologies we are
currently piloting, which include Distribution Fault Anticipation,
Open Phase Detection and Rapid Earth Fault Current Limiting
(REFCL) devices, all which seek to reduce ignitions.”
In addition, he said harnessing the power of big data, artificial
intelligence and machine learning will be critical in improving
mitigation effectiveness, more accurately assess risk, and move
some of these advanced fault detection technologies into the fault
anticipatory realm.
EMPLOYING NEW MITIGATION STRATEGIES

Another California utility — San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E)
— is actively preparing for the upcoming wildfire season through
situational awareness, grid hardening, vegetation management,
asset inspections and community outreach.
“For over a decade, we have prepared for each upcoming wildfire
season with a sense of urgency,” said Jonathan Woldemariam,
director of wildfire mitigation and vegetation management for
SDG&E. “This leads to continuous development and improvement
of our wildfire mitigation efforts.”
To prepare for the 2020 wildfire season, SDG&E used a

combination of new strategies including strategic undergrounding
portions of its service territory, covered conductor, grid
reconfiguration and continued accelerated overhead hardening.
This work was developed by a special team that evaluated every
grid portion with the goal to reduce the impacts of PSPS. This
work should result in a 30% reduction in the number of customers
impacted by PSPS compared to 2019. The use of microgrids will
also allow the company to keep more customers energized during
a PSPS.
“SDG&E is projecting a 30% reduction of customer impacts
due to PSPS by undergrounding, adding more weather stations
and sectionalizing devices to be more surgical with PSPS,”
Woldemariam explained.
SDG&E linemen attend helicopter training at Ocotillo Training Facility For example, SDG&E’s linemen are performing a significant
in Ocotillo, California. amount of asset inspection and repair work to maintain the grid.
At times, using more than 40 drones, the drone pilots and qualified
electrical workers conducted year-round aerial inspections of
power and gas lines, which has significantly reduced the risk of
equipment failures in SDG&E’s highest fire areas. To date, SDG&E
has assessed more than 30,000 poles through drones in its highest
risk areas. Additionally, four helicopters help with wildfire safety
and the patrolling electrical lines.

“Their work is vital to ensuring our equipment is operating Another proactive strategy for wildfire mitigation is a focus
as designed and will not become a potential source of ignition,” on vegetation management. More than 455,000 trees have been
Woldemariam said. “Linemen play an important role in patrolling inspected and trimmed near SDG&E power lines, and a 25-ft
and inspecting lines after a PSPS event, to ensure the infrastructure clearance for certain high-risk tree species is required. In addition,
is safe to operate prior to restoration of power and they also a new vegetation risk index analyzes data from hundreds of
complete repairs if damage is found from a high wind event.” thousands of trees, historical power outages and historical
The linemen are well versed on protocols for working in areas weather data to help to prevent tree-related outages and tree-
of the highest fire risk, and they understand when dedicated fire related ignitions before they even happen.
patrols and qualified firefighters are required to be on the job “SDG&E continues to innovate and improve our approach based
site. SDG&E enhances the ability of its crews to suppress fire at on lessons learned from previous fire seasons,” Woldemariam said.
its earliest stages by assigning designated Fire Patrols as well as “Some of the innovative tools include the use of fire propagation
training all personnel to establish good fire safety protocols. models to understand fire behavior for specific areas within our
“All linemen have a role and responsibility in wildfire service territory, using a vegetation risk index to evaluate the tree
prevention,” Woldemariam says. “It starts with understanding strike risk, and leverage weather information to forecast specific
their utility’s wildfire prevention plan and the mitigation measures fire potential days.”
required when elevated risk conditions exist.” After several PSPS events in recent years, SDG&E recognized
As part of this proactive approach, SDG&E’s linemen are the importance of balancing the mitigation of wildfire risk and
hardening transmission and distribution systems with targeted the customer impacts from PSPS events. To address this challenge,
mitigations including overhead, underground and covered SDG&E formed a PSPS Mitigation Engineering Team to perform
conductor installations. In 2020, SDG&E plans to harden 235 miles a circuit-by-circuit analysis and determine the best mitigation
of infrastructure to mitigate wildfire risk. SDG&E’s grid hardening for each scenario. In addition, the 2020 Wildfire Mitigation
includes replacing specific assets in the High Fire Threat District Plan introduced several new and expanded programs including
with assets, which reduce ignition risk such as SCADA capacitors, Customer Resiliency, Generator Grant Program, Whole Home
CalFire-approved fuses and lightning arrestors. Generator Program and Microgrids. Specifically, all medical
SDG&E’s falling conductor protection mitigates or reduces the baseline customers who experienced a PSPS in 2019 will be
potential for a fire ignition. The system operates so quickly that it offered a portable generator. SDG&E will be offering 300 whole
can detect and de-energize the conductor before it even hits the home generators to certain customers as well as 1,000 significantly
ground. SDG&E has also deployed high-speed relays that reduce subsidized generators for others.
the amount of energy into a fault, which reduces the likelihood To further support community outreach, SDG&E employs an
of an ignition. annual comprehensive wildfire safety public education campaign.
In addition, SDG&E has more than 190 weather stations This program includes hosting Wildfire Safety Fairs and Wildfire
providing readings on wind speed, humidity and temperature. Resiliency Open House Webinars and drive-thru services at the
More than 100 cameras monitor SDG&E’s service territory for Community Resource Centers during PSPS events to maintain
severe weather and fires. safe-distancing during the pandemic. SDG&E also partners
with more than 400 community-based organizations and public
“The cameras, paired with sectionalizing switches, allow
safety partners in order to share important information with the
SDG&E to be more precise on only turning off the most
communities it serves.
endangered communities. Also, artificial intelligence-based new
predictive models increase the accuracy of the weather forecast to For 2020, fuel moistures were above normal to start the
help prevent wildfires and allow the company to further mitigate summertime due to significant springtime rainfall, but the
impacts to customers,” said Brian D’Agostino, director of fire moisture is falling rapidly.
science and climate adaptation for SDG&E. “We are expected to become critically dry by summer’s end,”
D’Agostino said. “As seen just about every year, periods of critical
fire weather, driven by Santa Ana winds, are expected to return
this fall.”
WAGING WAR AGAINST WILDFIRES IN THE WEST

In regard to its wildfire mitigation system hardening efforts,
Rocky Mountain Power is leveraging technology in a number of
areas within the high fire-risk area in its service territory in Utah,
Wyoming and Idaho.
Over the last year, Rocky Mountain Power, a division of
PacifiCorp, invested in new covered overhead wire to prevent
sparks from occurring when debris or branches fall into the line
and weather monitoring stations for deeper insight into weather-
related threats — both real-time and historic.
SDG&E linemen perform inspections and maintenance to power lines.

In addition, operations teams are also using drones to assist in 2. Immediate or Early Fire Detection. SDG&E enhances the
wildfire mitigation efforts. Those drones incorporate the use of ability of its crews to detect any fire ignition at its earliest stages by
infrared (IR) camera technology as well as regular video. The IR assigning designated (co-lateral duty) and dedicated Fire Patrols
camera can detect hot spots, such as electrical connections that (sole duty) as well as training all personnel to establish good
have poor contact resistance causing heating and address those situational awareness during “Normal,” “Elevated” and “Extreme”
issues proactively. operating conditions.
Also, the company recently released an easy-to-use 3. Rapid Extinguishment. Prescribed fire tools and equipment
interactive map to view areas where a PSPS may occur. In these will be available within 50 ft of high-risk work to improve the
rare instances, power could be proactively shut off in specific, linemen’s or the contract firefighter’s ability to prevent the start of
high-risk areas to prevent wildfire ignitions. Customers can see if any fire. The emphasis will be on wildland fires, especially during
a home or business is in a potential PSPS area and view the seven- the critical times of the year when the fire risk is high.
day status forecasts in these designated zones.
Oregon-based Pacific Power, which is also part of PacifiCorp,
SCE’S SIX STRATEGIES FOR WILDFIRE MITIGATION
has also implemented similar strategies for wildfire mitigation.
For example, the utility is investing in covered overhead wire AND RESPONSE
and installing dozens of weather-monitoring stations and clearing In recent years, the North Coast region for Southern California
vegetation throughout high-risk wildfire areas. In addition, the Edison (SCE) has experienced some of the largest wildfire events
utility is ensuring public safety through coordination with state including the Thomas Fire (2017), Woolsey Fire (2018), and the
and local government officials, forestry management groups and Maria Fire (2019). These events have changed the way the utility
other stakeholders. prepares for and responds to wildfires. Here are some strategies
Through a proactive — rather than a reactive — approach to the utility has used to safeguard its field workforce, restore power
wildfires, utilities are maximizing the impact of their mitigation and keep its communities safe.
strategies. By involving their linemen in their system hardening 1. Identify Hazards. Every job starts with the foremen and
and mitigation efforts, they are helping to strengthen their fight crew members discussing the hazards of the project and the steps
against wildfires in their service territories. they will take to eliminate or overcome those hazards during their
tailboard discussion, said Don Arnold, senior manager of Edison
field safety. The Fire Management team works closely with the
IN THE WAKE OF WILDFIRES: SDG&E SHARES Fire Command(s) in charge of the specific wildfire to assure the
BEST PRACTICES wildfire is clear of an area to allow the crews to safely move in to
SDG&E trains all of its linemen on its Operations and start the process of clean up, rebuild the electrical infrastructure
Maintenance Wildland Fire Prevention Plan. The utility reviews and restore power.
the details of this standard practice with its workforce throughout 2. Focus on Communication. SCE’s Incident Management
the fire season with an emphasis on risk mitigation based on Team monitors wildfire smoke hazards in the areas their crews
the planned work activity and the daily Fire Potential Index. The are working to ensure the levels are safe to work. Continued
annual training includes basic wildland fire prevention training communications with crew members on possible hazards
and usage of required fire tools and equipment to suppress small supervisors and safety advisors are observed during operations.
fires. Daily morning briefings provide an opportunity to discuss the
Some of the safeguards in place to protect crews during latest safety concerns and reminders, including possible backfeed
repairs and power restoration include communication with fire issues, test and apply personal grounds, tripping hazards, bees/
coordinators monitoring fire activity, collaborating with on-scene insects, and other hazards the crews may be facing that day.
first responders and working within the Incident Command 3. Implement New Standards. SCE has instituted standard
System to account for crew resources assigned to the fire incident. changes for high-fire areas such as covered overhead conductor,
On-site SDG&E field leadership ensure crews have the necessary composite poles, fire-wrapped wood poles and ridge pin
personal protective equipment, water, shade and other equipment construction in many areas. “Some of the biggest changes we have
required to safely restore power to customers. seen come out of wildfire events are the approach to not only
SDG&E personnel are committed to following a three-step the reconstruction of our facilities from the event itself but those
process for reducing the fire risk and exposure involved with changes we incorporate into our everyday work,” Steve Sprague
potential wildland fires related to its work activities or equipment said.
that include fire prevention, immediate or early fire detection and 4. Strengthened the Incident Management Team
rapid extinguishment. Concept. With additional training, SCE’s IMT is now prepared
1. Fire Prevention. All work activities taking place in the to assist in wildfire events to ensure proper oversight and
wildland areas of SDG&E’s service territory will be assessed with coordination between all entities involved in an event. The IMT
regard to fire risk during standard safety tailboard sessions. The has allowed SCE to partner with local, state and federal entities to
utility will exclude those activities that pose risk if possible. Those ensure proper coordination between all agencies prior to, during
that cannot be eliminated will incorporate appropriate mitigation and after an incident.
measures to reduce the risk where possible.

5. Installed New Weather Stations and Cameras. SCE has also

added this technology not only in North Coast, but throughout
the company to better proactively monitor conditions prior to
an ignition. SCE’s Public Safety Power Shutoff’s (PSPS) incident
teams also play a large role in the prevention of future events. The
preparations are rigorous across the board with increased efforts
focused on enhancements to PSPS. SCE has refined its approach to
PSPS based on lessons learned from 2019 and feedback from the
customers, communities and stakeholders, while simultaneously
trying to mitigate the effects of outages on customers during the
pandemic.
6. Adding New Inspection Processes. SCE has also
implemented new inspection processes such as aerial inspections
to enhance its proactive enhanced inspection process.


STEVE NAROLSKI
Western Area Power Administration
WAPA DEPLOYS LOW-TECH IVM

METHODS IN THE DESERT
Without using LiDAR, the utility discovers how to manage its vegetation management program to reduce
risks and improve reliability.
This post-IVM treatment is performed on incompatible desert vegetation and fuel ladders, leaving low-growing
plant community with pollinator habitat abounding.
W
hether power marketing administrations or investor Expensive light detection and ranging (LiDAR), new technology
owned, utilities face increasing pressure nowadays and software commonly are promoted by vendors. However,
to keep costs down with limited budgets. Experts utilities can leverage less expensive ways to operate an IVM
cope with how best to execute integrated vegetation program using low-tech tools to effectively reduce inherent risks
management (IVM) to maintain safe clearances and meet compliance.
between vegetation and power lines. What has transpired in The following best management practices have worked in
California over the last few years has only further magnified Western Area Power Administration’s (WAPA) Desert Southwest
how a lack of appropriate vegetation management can adversely region and comply with the North American Electric Reliability
impact electrical reliability as well as public safety or property Corporation’s FAC-003-4 transmission vegetation management
damage above and beyond the lessons learned from the 2003 East standard. This is not to suggest any of the practices described
Coast blackout. here are superior to others or apply to all utilities within their
ecosystem footprints across North America. Instead, it is up to
IVM experts to evaluate their assets and underlying ecosystems
to make decisions that work best for their circumstances. Here is
how WAPA manages vegetation in its service territory.

ANNUAL PATROLS Along the I-5 corridor in the western U.S., bamboo grows fast.
In the Southeast, kudzu does. By shooting videos three times a
WAPA is a power marketing administration within the U.S.
year to show ROW conditions, in addition to the annual T-Lines
Department of Energy. It was formed through the Energy
ground patrol and the IVM manager’s review of roughly half
Organization Act of 1977, taking over from the U.S. Bureau of
of the transmission assets annually, the collected data provides
Reclamation the management of 17,000 miles (27,359 miles)
redundancy in coverage, all at a fraction of what LiDAR costs.
of transmission circuits across 14 states. Since then, WAPA has
established its own internal guidelines for vegetation clearances
and transmission line maintenance, environmental compliance THIRD-PARTY INSPECTORS
and other related policies, known as WAPA Orders.
Another best management practice is to assign independent
Per Requirement 6 (R6) of FAC-003-4, each utility is required to third-party inspectors to identify, validate and review IVM work.
perform one annual patrol per applicable circuit every 12 months WAPA uses contract foresters from the Davey Resource Group
but no more than 18 months apart. Over the last 10 years, the Inc. (DRG) to perform these and other functions as well as for
use of LiDAR has increased in the electric utility industry. The landowner notification, as required under WAPA Order 430.1C,
problem with LiDAR is the cost associated with data collecting, especially when hazard trees need to be mitigated.
processing and management. While LiDAR’s results are highly
DRG contract foresters also have been tapped to verify recent
accurate, if the correct number of classifications are collected,
vegetation-related reports on the ground or when WAPA cannot
they only represent a single snapshot in time.
remove trees within the urban interphase. While the Desert
Instead, for a fraction of the cost, WAPA performs aerial patrols Southwest does not have a preponderance of orchards or other
with transmission line maintenance (T-Lines) observers flying agriculture settings, some almond, pistachio, date and citrus
in helicopters, which satisfies FAC-003-4 R6. The helicopters are orchards still require periodic monitoring. DRG also provides
equipped with cameras that capture high-resolution imagery. quality reports for access issues as they are encountered.
Using a high-definition monitor, rights-of-way (ROW) evaluation
or work list creation can be performed from the office instead
of having to drive to the field to verify the information. Reports
submitted by any party also can be evaluated when the span and
circuit with the issue are known from the office.
GPS-tracking GIS software tracks T-Lines during an aerial inspection

helicopter flight.
A low-tech dozer performs bare ground treatment for wildfire breaks

to protect energized assets including steel lattice structures and
conductors.
As reported back in 2010, the most prevalent and best use of

aerial patrols is the identification of imminent threat vegetation
issues, but it needs to be taken in context. Only one plant can
create a problem literally overnight in the Desert Southwest — the
century plant, a member of the agave family.

A GoPro camera is mounted on T-Lines using an aerial inspection

helicopter.
A transmission lines aerial observer and fully equipped helicopter
One nuance with using contractors in a federal setting is they operates in the Desert Southwest.
cannot act like a federal employee, including directing other
contractors. Still, using them as a second set of eyes to verify or By compiling and assembling spreadsheets with multiple tabs,
collect data is efficient and a value add. data can be reviewed, verified and listed as mitigated. This provides
evidential support to FAC-003-4 R1, R2 and R5. While WAPA
continues to evaluate current and other software, a spreadsheet is
THE DATA still one of the simplest ways to store and manipulate data.
When it comes to vegetation clearances, WAPA has five
classifications of clearance per WAPA Order 450.3C. The ones IVM
managers monitor most closely are the “D” maintenance clearance
ROW PRESCRIPTIONS
and “E” emergency clearance, per WAPA Order 450.3C. The “A,” When looking at current high-voltage transmission ROW
“B” and “C” clearances usually are not used because of ground-to- corridors across most utilities in North America, they usually are
conductor minimum engineering specifications at maximum sag. well defined by low-growing plant communities. The easement
WAPA currently uses CartoPac software to collect and store edge usually contains taller vegetation. Some utilities even possess
ROW data from its T-Lines observers’ inspections, while DRG easements that enable them to cut safe back lines or hazard-tree
records observations in its proprietary ROW Keeper. Archival rights for off-ROW vegetation.
information is stored in Maximo. However, all the data can be
manipulated when converted to simple Excel spreadsheets.
This shows the results of handcutting incompatible vegetation and

reducing fuel ladders to within 12 in. of ground level.
A 55-in. high-resolution 4KHD monitor is used to review transmission

lines aerial inspection patrols in the office.

Contract bare ground treatment sprayers work in a substation.
Target vegetation with clearance issues is identified on these images

from aerial patrol inspections.
To gain this kind of appearance, mowing or mastication typically

is prescribed. However, what if incompatible vegetation could be
removed from ROW corridors while leaving well-established low-
growing plants — all without having to mow or masticate the
corridors? WAPA achieves this by cutting incompatible vegetation
in its ROW corridors by hand, and it costs less than 20% that of
outright mowing or masticating. This prescription retains ground
structure that can be used by opportunistic neotropical migrants
to nest and browse for ungulates or hiding/thermal cover along Third-party contract inspectors review vegetation within the right of
with rain intercept. It also reduces or removes fuel ladders, way to determine vegetation-to-conductor clearance.
especially in the wire zone, to reduce the potential impact from
wildfires, smoke or flame lengths — by lop and scattering the Because wildfire is an integral part of the western U.S.
resulting woody debris within 12 inches (305 mm) of the ground. ecosystem, precluding wildfire is not WAPA’s goal. Instead, leaving
By comparison, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service woody debris and flashy fuels low to the ground is the standard,
requires slash to be left within 24 inches (610 mm) of the ground. which keeps the flames low and relatively cool, preventing heat
damage to hardware.
This ROW prescription also helps to protect both cultural sites
and endangered species’ critical habitat. Because of the low
impact this prescription provides to a given site and how much of
the existing ROW plant structure is left intact, it is one of the best
management practices WAPA can use.

HERBICIDE TREATMENTS
Another best management practice just about all IVM managers
agree on is the use of herbicides, at label rates, approved by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, whether applied to the cut
stumps of those species receptive to the treatment or used as a
follow-up application. Traditionally, this is a contracted service to
the lowest bidder. Two contract herbicide sprayers provide bare
ground treatment to WAPA for labor plus chemicals as part of its
technician services contract with DRG.
This enables the two technicians to apply bare ground
treatment twice per year and spend the remainder of the time
either performing follow-up herbicide application within ROW or
performing additional bare ground treatment around the radius of
wooden structures along ROW. The cost savings for this is about
25% to 50% of the normal wholesale contracting for these services.
These are just some of the best management practices IVM
managers can use to possibly accomplish their objectives at
reduced costs. In a perfect world, where funding is unlimited, new
technology can help to do jobs better. However, in reality, funding
is limited and IVM managers need to find any opportunity to
stretch dollars to cover what is needed to not only comply with
FAC-003-4 but, in some cases, reduce the fuel loading on ROW.


CHECK OUT THESE RESOURCES FROM
T&D WORLD AND UTILITY ANALYTICS INSTITUTE
WEBSITES MAGAZINE Line Build 22 | Customer Storage 30 | Field Work 36 | Outage Management 42
Get strategic and

operations intelligence JULY 2019 tdworld.com
you need to keep

your utility running
smoothing. Apply Outage Data
for a subscription to Everywhere
T&D World magazine,
available in both print
@WordRoundTown
V
04:33PM - 05 MAR from Hoboken, NJ
Power outage all around Newark St,

Hudson St and Washington St … ... ...
so I’m working in the dark!
and digital formats.
907TDFC.indd 1 6/20/2019 1:10:15 PM
ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMUNITY

Our membership experience allows power utility and solution provider members to share insights,
knowledge and practical application techniques. UAI is the leading organization enabling our members to
connect, collaborate, and calibrate on the most effective ways in which to leverage their data and analytics.
Get more information here.
NEWSLETTERS EVENTS
Choose from over 15 newsletters and stay current
with award winning coverage that keeps you up-
to-date on the industry, projects, products and grid
optimization.
ABOUT US
A trusted industry resource for more than 65 years, T&D World’s mission is to provide utility executives,
managers, engineers, supervisors, operators and linemen with must-read information on the design,
engineering, construction, operation and maintenance of the electric power-delivery system.
Utility Analytics Institute is a growing online community and membership

organization for power utilities looking to optimize data analytics to improve
their business.

Wildfire Risk Mitigation Vol. Ii: Library

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like

Wildfire Risk Mitigation Vol. Ii: Library

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Wildfire Risk Mitigation Vol. Ii: Library

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

$129.

A comprehensive compendium of articles from T&D World covering

Copyright © 2020 by Endeavor Business Media

2 | ☞ GET MORE AT:

Copyright Terray Sylvester/Getty Images

Wildfires of Yesterday Drive Innovation Today................................................................. 8

Santa Barbara Prepares for New Normal of Natural Disasters

Wildfire Mitigation: SCE’s Approach to Isolating Ground Faults .............................19

Covered Wire Combats California Wildfires.....................................................................23

Linemen Fuel Fight Against Wildfires ............................................................................... 27

WAPA Deploys Low-Tech IVM Methods in the Desert ................................................33

3 | ☞ GET MORE AT:

BPA DECONSTRUCTS THE

4 | ☞ GET MORE AT:

Its vegetation management crews clear brush in a 50-ft (15-

5 | ☞ GET MORE AT:

Drawing on existing historical data from yearly physical

6 | ☞ GET MORE AT:

7 | ☞ GET MORE AT:

WILDFIRES OF YESTERDAY DRIVE

The Aircrane in action.

8 | ☞ GET MORE AT:

As part of the utility’s vision and ongoing effort to help reduce

9 | ☞ GET MORE AT:

SDG&E representative meeting with community members at the

10 | ☞ GET MORE AT:

Another way SDG&E directly engaged with the community was

FROM SKY TO GROUND

11 | ☞ GET MORE AT:

☞ To view this article online, click here

12 | ☞ GET MORE AT:

SANTA BARBARA PREPARES

13 | ☞ GET MORE AT:

STATEWIDE POWER SHUTOFFS

14 | ☞ GET MORE AT:

TRANSMISSION LIFELINE Vonette Fontaine, spokesperson for the California Independent

A graphic of the Goleta Load Pocket, supplied by the Clean Coalition.

15 | ☞ GET MORE AT:

“We are hoping to expand renewable generation facilities

A solar powered parking garage in Tempe, Arizona.Thomas Vieth,

Another problem: In the age of more severe wildfires and PSPS,

Solar powered parking canopies in Roodespoort, South Africa.Vanessa

16 | ☞ GET MORE AT:

17 | ☞ GET MORE AT:

Register Online at: leadershipforum.tdworld.com

19 | ☞ GET MORE AT:

Metallic balloons contacting power lines typically result in an intense

20 | ☞ GET MORE AT:

21 | ☞ GET MORE AT:

☞ To view this article online, click here

22 | ☞ GET MORE AT:

23 | ☞ GET MORE AT:

BVES first tested the wire with a 10,000-ft installation pilot in a

Standard covered wires are made of thermoplastic or cross-

24 | ☞ GET MORE AT:

A BVES crew pulls the wire through on the job.

25 | ☞ GET MORE AT:

TAKING A PROACTIVE APPROACH