PG&E developing microgrids for enhanced grid resilience
Local temporary microgrids to safely power key community resources and some residential customers in Lake County during Public Safety Power Shutoffs
LAKE COUNTY >> Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is developing four temporary microgrids in Lake County designed to provide electricity to shared community resources and neighborhoods using temporary generators during future Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) events.
A temporary microgrid is a grouping of electric lines and infrastructure that PG&E can quickly isolate, or island, from the larger electric grid. Electricity can be safely provided to customers within the microgrid when the surrounding lines need to be turned off for safety. Though each temporary microgrid will vary in size and capability, they all include:
• Devices that can disconnect the temporary microgrid from the larger electrical grid
• A pre-determined space and connection equipment for a backup generator According to company officials, two of the Lake County sites, both located in Clearlake, were completed and made operationally ready in November 2020; PG&E intends to upgrade these sites in 2021 to allow for faster and more stable connections of temporary generators. These sites include:
Clearlake North Temporary Microgrid
Location: Parking lot of the PG&E Customer Service Office at 14730 Olympic Drive in Clearlake.
Description: The site will keep a police station, a fire station, a pharmacy, gas stations, restaurants,
markets, dental offices and medical facilities, among other businesses, community services and residences energized during future PSPS events impacting the area. The Clearlake North temporary microgrid energization area includes approximately 3,200 customers in the communities surrounding Old Highway 53, west of Highway 53.
Clearlake South Temporary Microgrid
Location: Parking lot of the Lake County Campus of Woodland College off of the Dam Road Extension.
Description: The site will keep Adventist Health Clearlake, the Lake County Superior Court, the Lake County Campus of Woodland Community College, restaurants and markets, among other businesses and community services energized during future PSPS events impacting the area. The Clearlake South temporary microgrid energization area includes approximately 35 customers in the vicinity of the Dam Road Extension, south of 18th Avenue and east of Highway 53.
Two additional temporary microgrid sites, in Middletown and Lucerne, are currently under construction. PG&E anticipates completing construction on these two microgrid sites in mid2021, subject to weather conditions or other factors outside of PG&E’s control:
Middletown Temporary Microgrid
Location: 21095 Barnes Street in Middletown.
Description: The site will keep medical facilities, schools, banks, restaurants, markets and gas stations, among other businesses, community services and residences energized during future PSPS events impacting the area. The Middletown temporary microgrid energization area includes approximately 400 PG&E customers centered around Main Street/ Highway 175 and extending from Sacramento Avenue in the west to Jefferson and Douglas Street in the southeast, bounded by Putah Creek to the northwest.
Location: 6325 East Highway 20 in Lucerne.
Lucerne Temporary Microgrid
Description: The site will keep markets, schools, water agencies and gas stations, among other businesses, community services and residences energized during future PSPS events impacting the area. The Lucerne temporary microgrid energization area includes approximately 900 PG&E customers centered around Highway 20 (between Foothill Drive to the north and 16th Street to the south) and extending to Country Club Drive to the east.
All of the temporary microgrid sites in Lake County were identified and selected through an extensive process involving the analysis of prior and potential future PSPS events, along with community feedback, overall feasibility and other utility work in the region that could reduce PSPS impacts.
“The microgrids in Lake County are among the many sites being developed across PG&E’s service area in 2021 as a part of the company’s comprehensive actions to reduce wildfire risks across our system and minimize the impact of public safety outages on our customers and communities,” said Debbie Powell, interim head, Electric Operations for PG&E.
PG&E currently has six temporary microgrid generation sites ready to use during PSPS events throughout its service area, including both Clearlake sites. Nine additional sites, including Lucerne and Middletown, are currently in development.
While performing this critical safety work during the COVID-19 pandemic, PG&E expects crews to maintain proper social distancing recommendations and wear protective equipment when necessary to help safeguard the health and safety of themselves and the general public.
PG&E customers in the vicinity of the construction sites will receive an automated, courtesy phone call from PG&E notifying them of the work taking place.
Customers who are within the temporary microgrid energization areas will receive a separate communication from PG&E, notifying them of their inclusion in the microgrid and informing them of how it will operate during a PSPS event.
Temporary Microgrid Operational Considerations
While PG&E intends to make every effort to operate these microgrids during a PSPS event, PG&E is not able to guarantee electricity to all customers potentially served by a temporary microgrid during all PSPS conditions or scenarios due to a variety of operational considerations. These include:
• Hazardous conditions like an ongoing wildfire or weather conditions that could pose a fire risk if lines were energized.
• A large PSPS event or multiple emergencies happening simultaneously that requires prioritizing generation to critical locations first.
• Equipment damage or mechanical failure.
Other PG&E Wildfire Resiliency Efforts
In addition to deploying temporary microgrids, which are primarily designed to keep shared community services energized, PG&E has made a number of improvements to make PSPS events less impactful for customers, including:
• Sectionalizing and Grid Reconfiguration: Installing more than 600 additional sectionalizing devices in 2020 capable of re-directing power and limiting the size of outages. PG&E also analyzed its grid configuration to ensure as few customers as possible are impacted by future PSPS events.
• Substation Microgrids: PG&E’s substation microgrid solution is intended to reduce the impact of transmission-level PSPS events, which is when PG&E must turn off power to higher-voltage transmission lines for safety. Transmission-level shutoffs generally impact a larger number of customers—some in areas that are not directly experiencing the severe weather conditions related to a PSPS event. More than sixty existing substations — including five within Lake County — are now prepared to use mobile generators when needed to help keep power on for safe-to-energize customers nearby. PG&E identified these substations as having a higher likelihood of experiencing future PSPS events based on historical weather data and past PSPS events.
Learn more about PG&E’s wildfire safety efforts by visiting pge.com/wildfiresafety.