What PG&E found during its safety inspections of local power lines

PG&E found 49 unsafe issues with its power lines and other electrical equipment in Sonoma County and has completed the repair process on all but one problem area.

The safety deficiencies - including burned or rotten power poles, damaged conductors and overgrown vegetation - were identified in a systemwide inspection started in December and unprecedented in scope for the state’s largest utility.

Across its territory, PG&E discovered 1,200 safety problems involving nearly 700,000 power distribution poles, nearly ?50,000 transmission structures and 222 substations, more than 5,500 miles of transmission line and 25,200 miles of distribution line.

Bill Johnson, who was named CEO of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. in April, said in a statement the number of safety issues identified via the systemwide inspection was “unacceptable.”

“The safety of our customers and communities must be the driving factor in our approach to maintaining our electric system,” he said.

Iin Sonoma County, 40 of those problematic findings were on regular power lines, two were on high-voltage transmission structures and seven were at substations, according a report from the embattled utility. Fourteen of the problems were located in local cities, with six in Santa Rosa, and the rest were in rural communities.

Johnson, the former head of the Tennessee Valley Authority, a power agency with 10 million customers, the top job along with 10 new board members as part of a management shakeup PG&E promised in January.

PG&E delivers power to 5.4 million customers in a 72,000-square-mile area across Northern and Central California.

In January, the company filed for bankruptcy protection while facing an estimated $30 billion in liabilities related to wildfires linked to its equipment. PG&E also faces pressure from state lawmakers and others who question the utility’s commitment to safety.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the utility admitted in company documents that it has failed to upgrade aging equipment, including some towers in Marin County that have been in place since 1921.

During its system inspection, PG&E said it had repaired or made safe all of the nearly 100  high-priority problems on power transmission structures and another 100 at substations as of May 31. Of the remaining 1,000 unsafe issues on distribution poles, which carry electricity to homes and businesses, 97% have been repaired or made safe.

Repair priorities are based on the “potential safety impact” of the identified conditions, PG&E said.

Sonoma County had 49 top-priority problems requiring “immediate action,” with an additional 444  issues of lower priority that need to be addressed within three months from the date they were identified.

Nearly half (48%) of the lower priority repairs have been done, although PG&E said that repairs are not considered final until all records have been processed.

Deanna Contreras, a PG&E spokeswoman, said repair crews were working daily on repairs in Sonoma County.

In Santa Rosa, four of the high-priority jobs were repairs to power line conductors and two involved clearing vegetation from power lines. Low-priority repairs included replacement of 41 poles that were rotten, burned or broken.

Eleven poles were replaced in Sebastopol, including two damaged by woodpeckers. Sebastopol also had three high-priority repairs for clearing vegetation from power lines.

A detailed account of PG&E’s unsafe electrical problems and the status of repair work listed by counties and cities, is available at pge.com/wildfireinspections.