Water pumps need electricity
Sunset during the Eaton Fire in Altadena on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. On Thursday morning at the White House, President Joe Biden told reporters he talked to Gov. Gavin Newsom about fire hydrants running dry as fires raged out of control across Los Angeles County.
But there is a problem in California with emergency back-up generators. Air quality regulations limit their use, and some water agencies found that they could not adequately run their generators for testing. Air quality regulators have also thrown obstacles in the way of prescribed burns, a fire mitigation practice that once was routinely used to reduce the fuel for wildfires and create defensible spaces for firefighters. In 2000, the California Air Resources Board adopted burdensome smoke regulations that made prescribed burns difficult. Within 10 years, wildfires were breaking records like a homerun hitter on steroids.
SDG&E went to court to fight the CPUC’s decision, and when their last appeal failed, public safety power shutoffs were introduced. Utilities don’t want the liability for an out-of-control fire on a windy day.
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