If the burgeoning crop of new technology tools for wildfire prevention were designed for anyone, Pacific Gas & Electric would be the poster child.
Nearly six years removed from bankruptcy after a settlement for its role in the catastrophic 2018 Camp Fire in California, the Oakland-based utility is pursuing a round-the-clock monitoring program for power outages and wildfires. It pulls readings from 5.5 million meters that flag compromised infrastructure, 1,600 weather monitoring stations that use artificial intelligence to forecast fire-risk conditions and 600 infrared cameras trained on faint flickers to detect wildfires across its service territory.
But PG&E is facing resistance to the needed spending on the program from state regulators who are focused on keeping costs under control for residents and businesses.
The advent of AI-supported software and hardware offers electric utilities powerful new technology to more efficiently manage power resources, extend the lifelines of expensive equipment and quickly respond to costly power outages. But the strain of rising power prices has created hurdles that are often keeping those innovative models out of the hands of electricity providers.
