These series of storms, which include periods of gusty winds, also mean no electricity for a number of foothill and Sierra residents. Megan McFarland, with PG and E’s Marketing Division, says the elevated number of crews they’ve deployed have been busy trying to at least minimize the duration of blackouts, in keeping lines clear of debris. But the drought’s impact is also heightening the challenge…

click to listen to Megan McFarland

And with more wildfires linked to tree limbs hitting PG and E’s lines, McFarland says they’ve also developed what’s called a Storm Outage Prediction Model. It incorporates real-time weather forecasts…

click to listen to Megan McFarland

McFarland says this model enables the company to pre-stage crews and equipment, as storms approach, to enable rapid response to outages. She says PG and E is stockpiling power poles and lines, transformers, and other electric equipment, where bad weather is expected, to restore power as quickly as possible.