California's Pacific Gas & Electric Co. will start switching off power to minimize sparks in vulnerable areas during times of extreme fire danger, it said Thursday, as state investigators examine whether the utility's equipment set off deadly Northern California wildfires.
The move for pre-emptive power cutoffs is one that some local officials and fire survivors have urged after recent wildfires. PG&E and some other state utilities previously have resisted it, arguing that cutting off power carries its own risks, including to patients dependent on electrical equipment. The change was one of a slate announced Thursday by the utility in the aftermath of Northern California wildfires that killed 44 people last October, and have left the utility facing what could be hundreds of millions of dollars — or even more — in liability.