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PG&E outlines wildfire‑safety upgrades and customer affordability programs for Riverbank
Summary
At a Riverbank City Council meeting PG&E government‑relations representative Nathan Alonzo described undergrounding, covered poles, vegetation management, HD camera deployment and customer programs including CARE/FERA discounts, LIHEAP debt relief and medical baseline support.
Nathan Alonzo, PG&E’s government relations contact, told the Riverbank City Council that the utility is accelerating a mix of infrastructure and customer programs aimed at reducing wildfire risk and improving reliability.
Alonzo highlighted undergrounding distribution lines in the state’s highest fire‑threat areas and installing steel “covered” poles with insulated conductor to reduce the likelihood of sparks and animal‑related outages. He said the company inspects roughly 100,000 miles of lines a year and cuts more than one million vegetation instances annually to maintain clearance around assets.
He described the utility’s detection strategy — including an objective of one HD camera every 20 line miles in high‑threat zones — and said live sensor and camera data can be shared with public‑safety partners such as Cal Fire. Alonzo explained how EPSS automatic settings and targeted Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) work and said PG&E provides roughly 48–72 hours’ notice to local governments and public‑safety agencies when an event is likely.
On affordability, Alonzo said PG&E offers CARE/FERA discounts (noting a 20% program discount example), supports LIHEAP debt‑relief (citing roughly $1,000 of debt assistance in his remarks), provides medical‑baseline protections and portable backup batteries for customers with medical needs, and offers energy audits, budget billing and rebates for residential batteries. He told council the company filed a general rate case in June and for the first time in more than 15 years did not request a rate increase.
Councilmembers asked about rooftop solar and changes under the California Public Utilities Commission’s net energy metering (NEM 3) decision; Alonzo said the incentive landscape is changing and urged residents to evaluate whether rooftop solar and battery combinations make sense for their household. He offered to return to Riverbank periodically and to help coordinate in‑community sign‑ups for assistance programs.
The presentation concluded with an offer from PG&E to provide the city access to its PSPS data portal and to work with local partners on community resource centers and communications during potential outages.
