COBB – At the Cobb Area Council meeting on August 15, PG&E Local Government Affairs Representative, Jason Taormino announced that the 10,000 miles of undergrounding powerlines in the state currently includes Bottlerock and Highlands roads. Taormino explained that scientific considerations were determining where there would be undergrounding, where there would be pole-hardening (including metal replacement), and where covered conductors would be installed to insulate wires.
The considerations include prioritization for high fire threat areas, terrain and forest density. Citizens may only see the undergrounding of a 300-yard section of powerline, but the decisions are made objectively. He emphasized undergrounding 10,000 miles of powerline sounds like a lot, but California is a big state and the wires are everywhere.
Taormino explained that even if a line has been undergrounded, connection from private panels to poles will be largely unchanged. Line maintenance from their pole to residential customers is up to the customer. They are asking residents to make sure that those runs are free from tree and branch threats. If PG&E takes down trees on private property, the crews are instructed to chip anything four inches or less in diameter and to cut larger trees and branches into five-foot lengths. PG&E is spending $1.8 billion on tree and vegetation removal in California and they need to get Right of Entry (ROE) permissions to access private property.
The installation of line reclosers to shut down wires hit by branches in one-tenth of a second is ongoing. These Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings (EPSS) have proven to be very effective at reducing fires from downed powerlines. PG&E has already witnessed thousands of fewer predicted fires due to the EPSS system. Each EPSS shutdown does mean that power is out until a human inspection takes place to verify the safety of the lines before they can be powered up again.
District Supervisor Jessica Pyska announced that the tree mortality survey is progressing slowly. More Cobb area residents are requested to fill out the ROE permits to allow Tetra Tech access to analyze dead trees on their property that may impact county right-of-ways. The survey is finding that many of the trees they examine have died due to red ring rot and are not due to drought mortality. Red ring rot is not a part of the free dead tree removal project. There is also a growing presence of the Mediterranean oak borer in the area. Pyska believes that Tetra Tech will be present at the Community Development table at the Cobbler Festival. Cobb area residents are encouraged to stop by the table with any questions, and fill out ROE permits.
There will be radios for sale at the Cobbler Festival. Cobb area residents are encouraged to keep their radios on all night. "Keep radios on channel 9 and you'll be fine" to listen for fire emergencies. After 10 p.m. especially, residents are requested to refrain from conversation and music playing on the open line as it is reserved for emergency communications.
The Blackberry Cobbler festival is fast approaching. The Gill Brothers and Three on a Tree are two of the musical attractions that will be performing. There are over 100 booth vendors lined up for the Saturday August 24 event. It will run from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. at 16541 Golf Road at Belmont Pine. There will be family fun, food, live music, wine and beer at the community festival. The Cobb Mountain Lions will be supplying whole cobbler pies or individual servings, and there will be a cobbler contest, local food and artisans. Last year there were 3,000 to 4,000 visitors. Parking and festival entry is free.
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