2020 Sierra National Forest Creek Fire in California
Credit: USFS
November 5, 2022 - The Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) reports on October 31, RCRC and CSAC jointly requested that PG&E immediately begin removing felled wood cut down during utility vegetation management operations.
While PG&E commendably increased the pace and scale of its vegetation management operations to reduce the risk of utility-caused wildfire, it is regrettable that PG&E is largely refusing to remove trees cut down during those operations. This refusal is: impairing public safety; increasing fuel loads; compromising property owners’ efforts to create and maintain defensible space; and imposing heavy financial burdens on property owners to abate these hazards created by PG&E. More than a dozen counties have expressed concerns about this course change and the dangers and burdens it creates.
On November 3, RCRC and CSAC provided comments to the CPUC on Resolution M-4864, which would allow PG&E to exit Step 1 of the CPUC’s Enhanced Oversight and Enforcement Process. PG&E was placed on Step 1 of the Enforcement Process because it failed to sufficiently prioritize its vegetation management work on its highest risk power lines in 2020. As PG&E has focused its work on high-risk lines, the CPUC is considering whether to let it out of the enforcement process. RCRC and CSAC noted that PG&E’s work is far from done. By failing to haul away the resulting wood debris, PG&E has failed to complete its vegetation management work on many of those line miles. As a result, RCRC and CSAC urged the CPUC to either:
• Keep PG&E in Step 1 of the Enhanced Oversight and Enforcement Process until the felled wood issue is adequately resolved; or,
• Order PG&E to remove felled wood at the request of property owners as a condition of its emergence from Step 1 of the Enhanced Oversight and Enforcement Process.
The CPUC will take public comment on Resolution M-4864 at its November 17th voting meeting, when this item is expected to be considered. Members of the public will have 1-2 minutes to speak, and the call-in number will be:
- Phone: 1-800-857-1917, passcode: 9899501#
- Spanish Phone: 1-800-857-1917, passcode: 3799627#
ABOUT RURAL COUNTY REPRESENTATIVES OF CALIFORNIA (RCRC)
The Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) is a thirty-seven member county strong service organization that champions policies on behalf of California’s rural counties. RCRC is dedicated to representing the collective unique interests of its membership, providing legislative and regulatory representation at the State and Federal levels, and providing responsible services for its members to enhance and protect the quality of life in rural California counties. To learn more about RCRC, visit rcrcnet.org and follow @RuralCounties on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Source: RCRC
