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Pacific Power outlines wildfire-hardening plan for Weed, warns customers will pay for upgrades
Summary
Pacific Power presented maps and data showing most of its northern California service area lies in high fire-threat zones, described equipment and vegetation work already completed in Weed-area communities, and said costs for system hardening will be reflected in future customer rates.
Pacific Power’s California regional business manager, Jill Drinkwater, told the Weed City Council that more than half of the utility’s service territory sits in high-fire-threat areas and that the company is investing in covered conductor, sectionalizing devices and nonwood poles to reduce ignition risk and improve reliability. “Our number 1 goal has always been to provide our customers with safe and reliable power,” Drinkwater said, summarizing the company’s wildfire mitigation strategy.
Drinkwater and colleagues presented maps showing work completed and planned around Mount Shasta, Weed, Fort Jones, Happy Camp and other communities. She said Pacific Power replaced roughly 195 miles of bare conductor with covered conductor and more than 3,800 poles with steel or fiberglass alternatives in the area since 2020, and that in 2025 the company stood up a Wildfire Intelligence Center in Medford for 24/7 monitoring of ignitions.
Council members and residents pressed the company on who will bear the costs. Drinkwater acknowledged Pacific Power is an investor-owned utility and said the investments are likely to be reflected in customer rates; she also noted the company has filed wildfire-expense memoranda and other rate requests with the California Public Utilities Commission. On operational details, Pacific Power staff described a multi-step pole replacement and transfer process that can take months for joint users to migrate, and said old poles are removed only after the final transfer and a contractor pull is scheduled.
The presentation included a question-and-answer period about pole safety (covered conductor is insulated to reduce ignition), the life spans of different pole materials, and whether AI-enabled cameras used in Pacific Power’s monitoring are public or private. Drinkwater said some camera feeds are publicly available and that Pacific Power collaborates with other agencies; staff agreed to follow up with a list of camera partners and locations if feasible. The council did not take formal action on the presentation but asked staff to stay engaged with Pacific Power about development and undergrounding plans for Main Street.
