DUBLIN, CA — PG&E’s Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings may be to blame for a spate of recent outages that have affected thousands of residents in Eastern Dublin, as well as parts of Pleasanton and Livermore.
The City of Dublin said it is working closely with PG&E to explain the cause of the many outages. PG&E representatives have said that EPSS settings on power lines are trained to be extra sensitive during times of high fire risk, like during fire season, Red Flag warnings, or dry conditions.
When the EPSS detect a hazard, which can be anything from a falling branch to a bird, they automatically turn off the power after one-tenth of a second. PG&E said that EPSS-protected lines reported a 72% decrease in ignitions in 2023. During a historically hot and dry summer in 2024, PG&E increased its EPSS settings, though they have been lowered since.
The city said that staff have met with PG&E to request that mitigation efforts be implemented to decrease the number of unplanned outages. As a result, PG&E has installed bird guards on its power lines, and are working to upgrade the circuit that serves eastern Dublin so it is not impacted by faraway line disruptions.
PG&E is hosting a virtual Bay Area Town Hall meeting on Nov. 13 from 5:30- 6:30 p.m. Join here, or call 888-469-1987, and input Conference ID 1769382.
