IMPORTANT
1-877-660-6789
1-877-660-6789

Wildfire safety progress

Keeping your community safe using multiple layers of protection

Audio description
Transcript (PDF)

Our commitment to wildfire safety

Safety is our top priority. Every day, we are working to improve our electric system to keep the communities we serve safe. 

Wildfire safety progress by the numbers

Over the past several years, we have fundamentally changed our approach to preventing wildfires. Now, Stanford University and public safety leaders across the state recognize PG&E as a utility leader in wildfire safety.

PG&E preparing undegrounding work
1,130+ miles of undergrounding – reducing nearly all wildfire risk.
Learn more about undergrounding
Linemen installing poles
1,560+ miles of system upgrades – installing strengthened poles and lines.
Learn more about system upgrades
Linemen performing a systems upgrade
1,600+ weather stations installed – predicting and responding to weather.
Learn more about weather stations
HD Cameras
600+ high-definition cameras installed – monitoring and responding to wildfires.
Learn more about cameras
Vegetation management
100,000+ miles of vegetation inspections – annually ensuring lines are safe.
Learn more about inspections
EPSS
47,000+ miles of lines protected with EPSS – turning off power almost instantly.
Learn more about EPSS
Lineman inspecting transmission line
98% fewer PSPS outages from 2019 – improving reliability and safety.
Learn more about PSPS
PG&E worker and person looking at vegetation management work
$25+ million in grants – provided to local communities for wildfire safety projects.

Wildfire safety timeline

We have adopted new and innovative solutions since launching our Community Wildfire Safety Program. We have also scaled our programs to reach key goals.

Show all
Hide all

  • First PSPS takes place, protecting around 60,000 customers from wildfire risk.
  • Installation of strengthened poles and covered powerlines helping reduce wildfire risk.
  • Installation of weather stations and high-definition cameras to better monitor severe weather.
  • California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) debuts the High Fire-Threat District (HFTD) Map. The map highlights areas with higher ignition and fire spread risk. 

  • Launched enhanced vegetation management efforts to prune trees close to a powerline that may cause a wildfire or outage.
  • CPUC updates PSPS requirements to improve customer safety. 
  • PG&E significantly expands areas where PSPS can occur. PG&E initiates nine PSPS outages, protecting more than 2 million customers.

  • PG&E builds upon CPUC HFTD map by launching High Fire-Risk Area (HFRA) Map. The map includes additional at-risk locations based on PG&E's electric system.
  • PSPS Program is enhanced to better target high-risk areas. This helps to reduce the frequency and impact of outages.
  • Six PSPS outages occur, protecting about 653,000 customers from wildfire risk.  Customer impacts have greatly reduced from 2019.

  • Launched undergrounding initiative to move thousands of miles of powerlines in high-risk areas underground.
  • Piloted EPSS program that turns off power almost instantly when a fault is detected.  
  • Implemented our Post-Wildfire Wood Removal Program to support emergency response work.
  • Started our Utility Defensible Space Program to clear fuel and brush around power poles. 

  • Expanded the EPSS Program scope, which reduced potential ignitions by approximately 75%. 
  • Reached a milestone of building and installing 1,600 weather stations and HD cameras. 

  • Achieved an ~98% wildfire risk reduction from lines moved underground.
  • Enhanced our EPSS Program with innovative technologies. These helped us locate new risks and improve reliability by shortening outages.
  • Inspected, trimmed or removed nearly 20,000 trees to help reduce wildfire risks and outages. 

  • Shared expertise and lessons learned with over 60 utilities during PG&E's first annual Utility Wildfire Mitigation Conference.
  • Leveraged machine learning models to measure potential fire damage. Identified over 76,000 acres that were protected by PSPS from wildfires in 2024.

  • Expanded EPSS to transmission powerlines and substations.
  • Made improvements on circuits impacted the most by EPSS.

News and recognition

Our wildfire safety efforts have been recognized as a leader in the utility industry. We will keep improving these programs and share our learnings to enhance safety.

 

 

PG&E wildfire safety news

 

 

 

More information

Community Wildfire Safety Program (CWSP) Progress Map

We're working to keep our communities safe from wildfires.

Explore wildfire safety work in your area

Wildfire safety work near you

We're in your community to provide updates.

Find out more about an event for your area

Wildfire safety innovations

We're leveraging the latest wildfire safety tools and technologies.

Find out more about our work