Energy and Technology

Sonoma County has gone from total pandemonium in 2017 to a massively successful reaction in 2019. The County has responded -government and people, in an awesome way. Can we do it again, and again: fire, flood, drought?  The Civil Grand Jury is in place and capable of such review and recommendation.  It is their job.  If you have vision, and concern for the future of Sonoma County, consider applying for the Sonoma County Grand Jury. The application enrollment period for the 2020-2021 Grand Jury is Jan-Mar 2020. 

NO RESTRICTIONS:The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office is lifting the evacuation orders and warnings in the following areas. Stay vigilant. Much of these areas do not have power or natural gas due to the power shutoff. If you hear the hi-lo sirens, it’s time to evacuate. There will still be more peace officers in your neighborhood. Some areas are without power and gas.

Fire Update - please stay connected to SoCoEmergency Services for constant updates.  Winds are predicted to pick up tonight to alarming speeds - power is still on in many locations, but scheduled shut-offs are in process. Evacuation Centers are uo and running to accommodate evacuated communities...see below.  It's easy to think it won't happen but it IS happening for thousands of people.

As of 7:44 am, Friday, October 25. From many miles away we can hear helicopters and feel ash falling from the sky. This sets off PTSD for the entire county. Perfect fire weather now with smoke filling the air across Sonoma County. Everyone's paying attention and feeling concern. Power has been shut off since Wednesday afternoon in the area that became the fire zone. Evacuations are in effect and emergency centers are established.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a Fire Weather Watch, for the North Bay valleys, mountains and coastline from Saturday evening (10/26) through Monday morning (10/28).

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E)’s emergency operations teams have been monitoring a dry, offshore wind event. The company began its 48-hour advance notifications to customers that it may be proactively turning power off for safety and conducting a  Public Safety Power Shutoff  (PSPS) on late Wednesday evening.

Back in the 1930s a Santa Rosan agriculturalist-cum-chemist infused gas to take the place of the liquid removed so as to support the delicate internal silicon dioxide structure. Thus was the lightest material in the world created, aerogel, composed of an astonishing 99.8% air. In 2004 NASA’s Stardust spacecraft, equipped with a giant “tennis racket” composed of aerogel, scooped up the material being ejected from a passing comet and returned the samples to Earth two years later.

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) has notified the County of Sonoma that it has begun to conduct equipment inspections to restore power to the 200,000 residents in Sonoma County affected by the Power Shutoff. PG&E has said they expect to make progress today in restoring power to some areas in the County. Other portions of the county will remain without power until PG&E has inspected the electrical infrastructure and determined that they can safely restore service.

County, City Remind Residents to Stay Vigilant During Ongoing Outage. PG&E’s scheduled power shutoff began today Oct 9, 2019 in much of Sonoma County, affecting approximately 200,000 residents. PG&E currently predicts that the power shutoff may continue through Thursday, October 10, at noon.

Improving weather means patrols in some areas of Humboldt County have started. PG&E anticipates being able to restore power to 60,000 to 80,000 customers tonight or early Thursday morning. Patrols take place during daytime hours and will resume at daybreak.

PG&E CANCELS Power Shut-Off scheduled for North Bay and Sierra Foothills  Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) continues to monitor hot, dry and windy weather over the next few days and anticipates that it will NOT need to shut off power for nine Northern California counties in the North Bay.

During the months of October and November, up to  21 groundwater monitoring wells will be drilled near Sonoma County creeks   to provide new information to managers and the public on the link between groundwater and stream flows. Coordination and construction of the wells are a technical service provided by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to Sonoma County’s three Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs).

PG&E ‪has raised the Pubic Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) potential from “Elevated” to “WATCH” for Monday (9/23) & Tuesday (9/24) in the North Bay. “WATCH” is PG&E’s medium level of potential for a PSPS. Residents in and around Sonoma may receive an automated phone call, text and or email from PG&E advising them of the “WATCH.” Learn more at PGE.com/weather or by calling PG&E at 1-800-743-5009.

As you might imagine, an oilman morphing into an environmentalist after many years in that arena produced some clashes with others in the field – after all, I spent 25 years looking for oil and gas as a petroleum geologist in the Midwest. Much of my income has been and still is from oil and gas production as I retain several royalty interests in Oklahoma wells.

This column started over 11 years ago as a way to share individual actions that make a difference for our planet and her people. I still believe all of us have to take all the small steps we can, but it’s clear that only policy changes can save us, and for that we have to work collectively.

Vegetation Removal for Wildfire Safety Under Scrutiny. All across the state, PG&E is sending out crews to remove trees in large swathes under power lines. In neighborhoods, tree inspectors are tagging trees for trimming and removal. What used to be a required 18” clearance has become a 4-foot to 12-foot clearance since fires raged across our state and electric power lines have been identified as a source for several of these fires.

Within a year, electricity from onshore wind and solar will be cheaper than any electricity from fossil fuels, a report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) forecasts. This doesn’t even consider the “hidden” costs of fossils fuels—from mining and drilling operations, spills, and greenhouse gas emissions, nor does it factor in huge fossil fuel subsidies.

For Sunrise Sonoma County (SunriseSoCo), climate justice isn’t only about adjusting to fires and floods; the whole future is dicey. Sunrise s a youth-led group, ages 13-35 with adult supporters. When the full weight of climate change hits after 2030 if we don’t reduce to zero CO2 emissions, Sunrisers will still be young and there is no plan in place to ward off irreversible catastrophe. Urgent action is needed and “we need absolutely everybody,” says the national Sunrise Movement. 

Effective Wednesday, November 20, 2019, Sonoma County is issuing a cold weather advisory in response to the National Weather Service’s prediction for temperatures in the 30s overnight in parts of the county that might also be without power.

It used to be we only post power during heavy winter storms. Now the wind kicks up and our power goes off. Not because power lines are down from storm damage, but because PG&E's equipment is so fragile they are concerned about starting more fires. California can't handle more fires. We've had enough and so far too many have been caused by power equipment failing. 

Crews are replacing poles, lines and other equipment throughout the fire footprint today to restore power to those who remain without power. Those customers mostly have Geyserville and Healdsburg addresses but some are in Middletown and Calistoga. We expect to restore power to a significant number of people today.

Repopulation and Evacuation Orders reduced 

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) reported today that it has restored power to nearly all customers who were de-energized during the October 26 and 29 Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) events.

At this point (10/31/19 7am) the Kincade fire is 60% contained. That's good news for people and communities impacted, but firefighters are far from finished. There are still evacuation zones enforced near the fire, but power and gas services are being restored throughout Sonoma County.