PG&E is activating its Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings that they say will help them better predict, monitor and respond to wildfires.
These safety settings shut off power within a tenth of a second when hazards like branches or debris come in contact with power lines.
Stephanie Magallon is a spokesperson for PG&E.
“If there was a bird that landed on our lines that is causing an issue or if there was a branch that landed on our lines, it'll tell us exactly what the fault was in that area,” said Magallon.
Magallon says since last year PG&E has installed around 10,000 of these tools across 900 miles of circuit in high fire-risk areas on the Central Coast.
PG&E says they plan to install more of these tools in the region in the coming months… including the cities of Hollister, King City, Greenfield and unincorporated areas of San Benito County and California Valley.
