Liberty Utilities hosting two Lake Tahoe meetings about de-energization plans

LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There will be two public workshops hosted by Liberty Utilities, one on each the north and south shore, to provide information about the utility's new de-energization plan during emergencies.

Since July 2018, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) requires utilities to develop a plan to shut off power only as a last resort and
for a good reason in order to protect public safety.

Liberty's workshops will be to share information and answer questions about their plans. The two opportunities for the workshop are as follows:

Monday, October 8 @ 10:00 a.m.
South Lake Tahoe Parks & Recreation Bldg.
1180 Rufus Allen Blvd., South Lake Tahoe, CA

Friday, October 12 @:00 10 a.m.
North Tahoe Events Center
8318 North Lake Blvd., Kings Beach, CA

CPUC says the utility, “…must reasonably believe that there is an imminent and significant risk that strong winds will topple its power lines onto tinder dry
vegetation or will cause major vegetation-related impacts on its facilities during periods of extreme fire hazard.”

“Our customers are aware of the devastating wildfires in the past couple years that have been traced to issues with other utilities’ electric infrastructure during extreme wind conditions,” notes Todd Gee, Liberty Utilities’ Manager of GIS and Mapping. “Since winds can reach 100+ mph on some of the ridges around Lake Tahoe, it is prudent for Liberty Utilities to develop such a plan as well as meeting this regulatory requirement.”

Gee also noted that first responders and local emergency management personnel have been invited to these workshops to ensure coordinated efforts in the event de-energization of power lines is required due to extreme weather.

“While we certainly hope we never have to implement such a plan, we are working to identify high-risk circuits within our service territory where we may shut off power when extreme weather conditions threaten infrastructure,” Gee added. “The overall goal is to protect our customers and communities and to provide them with as much advance notice as possible.”

For more information about the workshops or the De-Energization Plan, visit our website at www.libertyutilities.com and click on the “Emergencies & Outages” link at the top.