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Swaths of East Dublin saw three unplanned power outages last month triggered by bird-related incidents, according to a PG&E spokesperson.
Each time a bird collided with a power line, or is suspected to have collided with it, Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings automatically turned off power to prevent a potential wildfire, PG&E’s Tamar Sarkissian told the Weekly.
The cause of a fourth outage in Dublin during October is still under investigation, Sarkissian said.
But aiming to prevent more animal-related outages in the future, PG&E installed bird mitigation on power lines on Oct. 24.
“Despite the untimeliness and direct impact that the unplanned outages have, PG&E’s EPSS is a proven wildfire prevention tool,” Dublin city officials wrote in an announcement on Oct. 30.
Sarkissian said, “In 2023, we saw 72% reduction in CPUC-reportable ignitions on EPSS-protected lines in High Fire-Threat Districts” — compared to the 2018-20 average.
Dublin’s power outages hit on Oct. 12, twice on Oct. 17 and once again on Oct. 23, according to Sarkissian. About 7,000 people in eastern Dublin were affected, the City said in a news announcement on Oct. 24.
The cause of the outage on Oct. 12 is not yet clear, but the other three involved “animal contact or suspected animal contact with our lines – specifically birds”, Sarkissian said.
Within a tenth-of-a-second of contact or suspected contact, safety settings turned off the power as an automatic protection against possible ignition.
Settings are extra sensitive during times of high fire risk, like those Dublin has experienced in recent weeks, according to city communications analyst Ryan Moran.
“Although we can’t inform customers about outages on an EPSS-protected powerline beforehand, we will share texts and social posts via Nextdoor to discuss outage causes and reliability improvements, if available, after the outage occurs,” Sarkissian said.
For more information on the power outages, visit the city’s website at dublin.ca.gov.
PG&E is also holding a Virtual Town Hall Bay Area on Wednesday (Nov. 13) at 5:30 p.m. To attend, visit the PG&E website at pge.com.
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