Shut-off plan didn’t identify circuit suspected in Zogg Fire, PG&E says

The models Pacific Gas and Electric Co. employs to determine the scope of public safety power shut-offs did not identify the circuit suspected of causing the Zogg Fire last month as one that should be de-energized, the utility said in a court filing.

Asked by a federal judge in San Francisco to explain its role in the ignition of the blaze, PG&E responded on Monday that the issue of whether to shut off the power in the area was not the result of anyone's decision.

"There was no 'decision to leave energized the line,'" PG&E attorney Reid Schar wrote. "The Girvan Circuit was energized because PG&E's PSPS [public safety power shut-offs] models, developed well before the Zogg Fire, did not identify that circuit for potential de-energization based on the facts and weather predictions available."

The utility wants to "better understand the events that led to this incident," PG&E spokesman James Noonan said in a statement. The company is still investigating and will supplement responses to provide further information as it becomes available, he added.

"While we are cooperating fully with Cal Fire, we do not have access to the equipment that was taken by Cal Fire investigators nor do we know how this equipment may factor into its investigation," the statement continued. "As a result, we do not know what role, if any, our equipment may have played."

The Zogg Fire started Sept. 27 in Shasta County. It killed four people, destroyed 204 structures and burned more than 56,000 acres over 16 days.

PG&E confirmed in the court filing that the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, seized for investigation devices used to track power usage, shattered insulators and parts of a gray pine tree near the power line, which is known as the Garavan Circuit.

Cal Fire has not concluded what role PG&E's equipment played, if any, in sparking the blaze. USA v. Pacific Gas & Electric Co., 14-cr-00175 (N.D. Cal., filed April 1, 2014).

The utility's disclosure was made in response to U.S. District Judge William Alsup's request for more information on whether it could have started the fire. Alsup oversees PG&E's criminal probation stemming from the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion. He's largely responsible for directing PG&E to create its public safety power shut-off program.

In advance of shutting off power, PG&E identifies specific areas for potential de-energization based on models that forecast weather conditions and fire risk across its service territory.

But its model did not identify the Garavan Circuit as a hazard, PG&E said. Schar wrote, "Circuits not identified for inclusion in the scope of a potential PSPS event remain energized and are not subject to any decision during the event to leave the circuit energized."

PG&E cut power to approximately 361,000 customer accounts across 36 counties and 17 tribal communities on Sunday. Interim Vice President Michael Lewis is responsible for making the final determination on the scope of power shut-offs.

Asked whether the area was cleared of vegetation, PG&E replied it has not identified any trees for which vegetation management work was prescribed but not completed. It said it's trimmed or removed more than 2,000 trees near where the fire started.

But the utility also noted that the area was not subject in 2019 to a separate catastrophic event memorandum account patrol -- an enhanced inspection to flag dead or dying trees that it's supposed to do as part of its wildfire mitigation plan. It explained there were "scheduling and operational issues arising from efforts to reschedule routine vegetation management patrols on a risk-prioritized basis so that the routine patrols on higher risk circuits would be performed before the fire season."

Last week, Alsup ordered PG&E to respond by Nov. 3 to a compliance monitor's findings that it failed to prioritize its wildfire mitigation work in the highest risk areas.