Plan to switch off power lines during high risk of wildfires angers rural Southern Californians

Residents of Southern California are all too aware of the destructive power of wildfires, but when San Diego County officials proposed a plan aimed at reducing one potential wildfire source, protests abounded. San Diego Gas & Electric has proposed shutting down power lines under certain "fire-friendly weather conditions," a move that would primarily affect rural residents, reports Jennifer Steinhauer of The New York Times.

The power outages could last between 12 and 72 hours, until dry, highly windy weather ended. Supporters of the plan say conditions which would require the shutdown are fairly rare. “We are projecting that we could have the conditions ripe for an emergency shut-off once or twice a year,” said Stephanie Donovan, a spokesperson for the utility, “covering about 18,000 to 22,000 people at a time.” During the outages, county residents would also be without water, since the utility powers water wells, and residents say that would threaten their safety. "When the other 97 percent of causes that start a fire occur, there is no water in our system to fight them,” said Gary Arant, general manager of the Valley Center (pop. 7,500) water district.

Steinhauer writes that the plan has heightened many of the county's rural residents' antagonism toward their urban neighbors. Michael Hart, publisher of The Julian News, told her, “Once or twice a year we get people who want to citify the backcountry. We had someone show up here once who wanted to make us like Santa Barbara. We ran them out on a rail.” (Read more)