Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative reports that it continues to enhance its historic preventative program, including vegetation management and proactive equipment maintenance that considers wildfire risk.
Although wildfires have many causes, from lightning to an unattended campfire spark, electric utilities are doing their part to help keep communities safe, says the utility.
Each year, PSREC trims thousands of trees and clears vegetation. As an added precaution, the utility shreds and mulches the underbrush beneath power lines in high-density areas.
In mountain areas, PSREC reconfigures protective equipment to shut down power lines at the first sign of an electrical fault. The line won’t be re-energized until it is inspected and manually reset. On portions of overhead power lines, the utility installs current-limiting fuses, which are filled with sand, to help isolate faults and eliminate arcing resulting from fault conditions.
In recent years, PSREC has expanded its tree-trimming program throughout its service area. While the utility clears vegetation in the rights of way, it also encourages customers to take precautions to protect themselves and their property:
- To reduce risk, consider the fire resistance of the home, the topography of the property and the nature of the vegetation close by.
- Maintain defensible space around homes, businesses and properties. This space is needed to slow or stop the spread of wildfire, and it helps protect homes from catching fire, either from direct flame contact or radiant heat. Defensible space is also important for the protection of firefighters defending a home.
- Visit the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention website https://readyforwildfire.org/.
Customers can stay up to date on outage communications from PSREC by looking for outage information on the utility’s website and social media. They can also sign up for text message notifications using SmartHub from the utility’s website. Those needing assistance with notifications can call 800-555-2207.
