Flex Alerts have been extended once again in anticipation for high temperatures. As of now, PG&E says there are no planner power shutoffs, but that does not cancel the possibility of the lights going off as the Bay Area braces for the heat. Ginger Conejero-Saab reports.
The incoming heat wave means all hands-on deck for PG&E crews. The hot weather also sets the stage for possible widespread outages across the Bay Area.
“We will be working around the clock, staffing levels will be high. You will see blue trucks out in the field if there are outages because we’ll be working around the clock,” said PG&E spokesperson Tamar Sarkissian.
Sarkissian emphasized that the increase in staffing to handle any weather-related issues. She said that staff meteorologists will also be closely tracking weather through the weekend at the utility's command center in San Ramon.
Specialized equipment at the PG&E command center allows them to see which areas are most impacted most by the heat and make decisions on where to send crews based on the information.
When it comes to outages in the coming days, Sarkissian said it's more likely to be due to overheating equipment than any planned power shutoff.
“And when it’s this hot and it’s not cooling down overnight, our equipment doesn’t have the opportunity to cool down. And that's when we will sometimes see equipment failure, which can lead to these heat caused outages,” she said.
As for now, PG&E said that there are no planned power shutoffs related to the heat wave. But also said that doesn’t mean they're off the table, if conditions change.
“If we’re looking and seeing multiple factors including high winds, including low humidity, this really extreme heat, red flag warnings. All of that comes together, that’s when we sometimes will make that decision,” Sarkissian said.
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Locally, BART will also be keeping a close eye on high temperatures to prevent events such as a partial derailment in Concord back in June.
Investigations determined the partial derailment was due to the train running at a high speed when temperatures were excessively high.
Since the incident, BART has implemented a new policy that requires train speed to be cut in half when temperatures go above 100 degrees.
