Controller urges solutions to fire threats at LADWP power poles, transmission towers and other equipment

Nov. 20--The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power owns 49,000 power poles -- many of them wooden and nearly a third of them more than 65 years old -- in areas with higher wildfire risks, according to a report released Wednesday by the city controller.

Ron Galperin released the report amid intensifying concern over the wildfire threat posed by the region's electrical infrastructure, such as power lines.

Some major points from Galperin's review:

Galperin recommended the following steps to reduce fire risk around the LADWP infrastructure:

-- Use drones to inspect utility infrastructure located in riskier areas;

-- Resolved any backlogs on maintenance in fire-risk areas;

-- Work jointly with the fire department to evaluate vegetation and other risks;

-- Make strategic planning a priority when managing wildfire risks, including reporting to the LADWP commission and the City Council on fires related to utility equipment;

-- Use high-definition cameras, weather stations and other tech to remotely monitor fire threats;

-- Employ predictive analysis and artificial intelligence to help with identifying wildfire risks; and

-- Look into creating a wildifre insurance fund, similar to a program the state created in July for privately run utilities.

The recent Getty fire focused the spotlight onto the LADWP. That blaze started when a tree branch blew onto the utility's power line, causing sparks to fly onto nearby vegetation, according to preliminary fire department findings.

LADWP said they did their part in reducing the fire risk at that power line, and pointed to trees outside of the area the utility typically maintains.

The public utility released a statement Wednesday responding to Galperin's report by saying that a "wildfire mitigation plan" is being presented to the LADWP commission on Dec. 10. It will incorporate many of the recommendations the controller made, it said.

The utility has "invested $3.9 billion over the past five years in aggressively replacing and upgrading aging equipment across the City of Los Angeles," the statement said.

In the last fiscal year, as part of its "Power System Reliability Program," the utility went beyond its equipment replacement goals. The replaced equipment include 3,757 power poles, 10,203 crossarms, and 1,238 distribution transformers.

In fact, over the past four years, LADWP has replaced more than 11,000 power poles, 33,800 crossarms and over 3,700 distribution transformers across the city, including in fire risk areas.

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