Southern California Edison
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Southern California Edison Public Safety Power Shutoff Protocol (PSPS) Post-Event Reporting in Compliance with Resolution ESRB-8 and Decision 19-05-042 September 21 to October 1, 2019 Submitted to: California Public Utilities Commission Director of the Safety and Enforcement Division October 15, 2019 SCE PSPS Post Event Report September 21 to October 1, 2019 Executive Summary On September 21, 2019, Southern California Edison (SCE) activated its Emergency Operations Center and PSPS Incident Management Team to perform response operations associated with a weather event where forecasted high winds and low relative humidity levels were expected to create the potential for execution of SCE’s Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) protocol. Over the course of the event, potentially impacted customers were identified in Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Mono, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Tulare and Tuolumne counties. The PSPS notifications team completed all required notifications to potentially impacted customers, emergency management agencies (county and state), and elected officials in areas which could be and/or were impacted. Pro-active de-energization was ultimately required for a portion of the Riverside County area and affected 85 customers. SCE submits the following report to the California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) Director of the Safety and Enforcement Division (SED) pursuant to Resolution ESRB-8 and Decision (D.) 19-05-042. In separate sections of this report, SCE sets forth the reasons for its decision to notify customers of the potential for and execution of de-energization and includes an event summary and responses to the questions as required in post-event reporting. SCE PSPS Post Event Report September 21 to October 1, 2019 SCE’s Decision to Notify and De-Energize Customers SCE’s decision to notify customers of a potential or actual utilization of the Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) protocol was based on the following factors: • National Weather Service (NWS) issued Red Flag Warnings for counties that contain SCE circuits in high fire risk areas; • Assessments from SCE’s in-house meteorologists about local weather conditions; sourced from strategically deployed weather stations (e.g. wind speeds, humidity, and temperature); • Output from the SCE Fire Potential Index (FPI), which is a tool used to estimate wildfire potential based on actual weather and fuel conditions; • Input from SCE’s fire scientist on fire potential to include consideration of weather and fuels; • Real-time situational awareness information from highly trained personnel positioned locally in high fire risk areas; • Specific concerns from local and state fire authorities regarding the potential consequences of wildfires in select locations; • Expected impact of de-energizing circuits on essential services such as public safety agencies, water pumps, traffic controls, etc.; and • Other operational considerations to minimize potential wildfire ignitions. Actions taken to manage the response included: • Implemented operating restrictions on impacted circuits in impacted counties; 1 • Activation of an Incident Management Team (IMT) for directing response operations associated with potential de-energization; • Notifications to potentially impacted customers, emergency management agencies (county and state), and elected officials; • Patrolling of impacted circuits before and after the event; and • Live field observations of impacted circuits during the Period of Concern2 to help inform the need to execute the Public Safety Power Shutoff Protocol to maintain public safety. Additional details of the event leading to the decision to provide notifications and proactively de-energize can also be found in the report timeline below. SCE PSPS Post Event Report September 21 to October 1, 2019 Event Summary September 21, 2019 to October 1, 2019 On Saturday, September 21, SCE’s Situational Awareness Center notified SCE's Business Resiliency Duty Manager and on-duty Incident Management personnel of forecasts predicting local winds with high gusts, warmer temperatures, and very dry conditions resulting in an Elevated Fire Weather Threat (EFWT) beginning on Monday, September 23. Initial 72-hour notifications were made to potentially impacted counties. SCE activated its PSPS IMT on Sunday, September 22, to begin overseeing execution of the PSPS protocol. The IMT was activated through the evening of Tuesday, October 1. Throughout the 11-day event, nine counties were in scope for potential de-energization, impacting up to approximately 461,600 customers. The “Period of Concern Reports” in Appendix A contain reports for each day of the event. On Sunday, September 22, SCE meteorologists forecasted Elevated Fire Weather threat for the Santa Barbara Mountains, South Coast, and LA and Ventura Counties for late Monday into early Wednesday. A Santa Ana wind event was expected to bring significant warming and drying to much of the region, with warmest valley areas expected to exceed 100 degrees. The Southern Sierras were forecasted to have occasional wind gusts up to 60 MPH. SCE territory expected an Elevated Fire Weather threat for Tuesday with Santa Ana wind gusts were forecasted to reach 50 MPH in the Southern California Mountains with relative humidity at around 10%. Winds were expected to peak during the Tuesday afternoon hours. The warning cited the potential for rapid spread of wildfire and extreme fire behavior that would lead to a threat to life and property if an ignition occurred on Tuesday. On Tuesday, September 24, the IMT closely monitored weather models, real-time weather stations, and received real-time information from live field observers throughout the day. Based on these real-time interactions, the IC was able to refine the event start time and made the decision to initiate the PSPS de-energization protocol. The Saddleback and Dysart Circuits in Riverside County were proactively de-energized on September 24 as outlined below: • The Saddleback 33kV Circuit out of Banning Substation in the unincorporated cities of Banning and Beaumont was proactively de-energized at 2:46 p.m. A total of nine customers, mostly residential were affected, with no Critical Care or essential service provider customers impacted. After winds abated, appropriate re-energization protocols were implemented, and power was restored same day at 8:34 p.m. • The Dysart 12kV Circuit out of Banning Substation, downstream from Saddleback, in the unincorporated cities of Banning and Beaumont was proactively de-energized at 2:46 p.m. A total of 76 customers, mostly residential were affected, with no Critical Care or essential service provider customers impacted. After winds abated, appropriate re- SCE PSPS Post Event Report September 21 to October 1, 2019 energization protocols were implemented, and power was restored same day at 8:34 p.m. Additionally, on Tuesday, September 24, 2:25 p.m., the Bear Valley Circuit in San Bernardino County relayed. Since the Bear Valley Circuit was on the Monitored Circuit List at the time, the circuit needed to be patrolled before re-energization could occur. A portion of the circuit was re-energized at 8:25 p.m., and the circuit was fully re-energized on Wednesday, September 25 at 11:31 a.m. A low-pressure system moved in on Wednesday, September 25 and Thursday, September 26, which resulted in periodic showers and scattered thunderstorms across much of the SCE territory. The increased humidity decreased fire concerns in most areas. On Friday, September 27, the NWS issued a Red Flag Warning for the Sierra front in Mono County from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. for Saturday, September 28, with wind gusts up to 60 mph and relative humidity as low as 15%. However, during this time live field observers did not indicate that wind gusts in the vicinity of circuits necessitated de-energization, and no circuits were proactively de-energized. Monday, September 30, at 1:31 p.m., unrelated to PSPS, the Autumn Circuit in Mono County relayed during live field observations. The relay operation also de-energized the downstream Falls Circuit. A field troubleman attributed the cause of the relay operation to third party tree trimmers dropping a limb on the Autumn line. After the Autumn Circuit’s period of concern expired, the Autumn Circuit was patrolled, tested, and re-energized by 3:24 p.m. Due to improved weather conditions and updated forecast analysis on Tuesday, October 1, SCE determined that no circuits were expected to meet PSPS criteria for at least the next three days, which satisfied SCE’s internal protocols for de-mobilization. At 4:00 p.m., the decision was made to end the PSPS event and de-mobilize the PSPS IMT. Throughout the event, all notifications to potentially impacted customers, emergency management agencies (county and state), and elected officials were made in accordance with notification protocols. See Appendix B for “Public Safety Partner Notifications” and Appendix C for “Customer Notifications.” SCE PSPS Post Event Report September 21 to October 1, 2019 Response to ESRB-8 Requirements The following material addresses Resolution ESRB-8 requirements in each of the categories associated with notifications. Each of these categories is addressed in a separate section. 1. The local communities’ representatives contacted prior to de-energization, the date on which they were contacted, and whether the areas affected by the de-energization are classified as Zone 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3 as per the definition in General Order 95, Rule 21.2-D SCE maintained