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Experts tell Assembly fast‑trip operational controls cut ignitions sharply; undergrounding remains costly
Summary
A UC Berkeley study and multiple witnesses told the Assembly Committee on Utilities and Energy that enhanced system settings — fast‑trip operational controls — have substantially reduced ignitions and are more cost‑effective in many cases than large capital projects such as undergrounding.
Assembly members heard technical and academic testimony about which wildfire mitigation measures deliver the biggest reductions in ignitions per dollar spent.
Duncan Callaway, professor and chair of UC Berkeley’s Energy and Resources Group, presented research finding that “enhanced power system safety settings,” known as EPSS or fast‑trip, reduced ignitions by roughly 82% in PG&E territory and are highly cost‑effective. Callaway said those operational measures emerged in 2021–2022 and “have made an enormous difference.” He cautioned that while undergrounding can nearly eliminate risk on specific circuits, fast‑trip and covered conductor can avoid many ignitions at a much lower dollar per avoided structure.
Chief Brian Fennessy of the Orange County Fire Authority described a separate response innovation: the Quick Reaction Force (QRF), a public‑private helicopter firefighting capability funded by Southern California Edison that includes CH‑47 helitankers and night‑capable retardant support. Fennessy said the QRF has flown on nearly 250 wildfires, dropped roughly 9,000,000 gallons of water and retardant, and that SCE has invested more than $100,000,000 to fund the QRF since 2021. He and others urged creating a sustainable, statewide funding approach to keep that year‑round capability available.
Panelists also discussed covered conductor and other grid‑hardening measures. Randy Howard, general manager of the Northern California Power Agency representing publicly owned utilities (POUs), noted that POUs face permitting delays on state and federal lands that can take months or years and that small public utilities often cannot self‑insure or access the same backstops as larger IOUs.
Callaway said the arrival of cost‑effective operational controls changes the calculus for how much capital‑intensive undergrounding is needed: “What we are not saying is no more undergrounding. But this recent innovation is extremely important in terms of changing how much capital cost has to go into reducing wildfire risk.”
Committee members asked about trade‑offs between operations and capital investment, the geographical distribution of measures and whether state policy should prioritize operational fixes that can be deployed quickly and at lower cost.
No formal policy vote followed; lawmakers said technical evidence presented would guide later sessions and potential legislative changes.
