If the Governor is really serious about a 21st Century Electric Grid…
By James Fox
Just when I was adjusting to the new normal, where PG&E brings down the power grid indiscriminately, and deprives 2.5 million people of power to ward off wild fire threats, I have my own first-hand, harrowing experience.
My wife and I were in Lafayette over the weekend. We woke up to no power on Sunday which we were expecting, having paid attention to the news alerts. We had a social commitment in San Francisco so headed in early so we could take showers. As we were driving along, it was evident that the power was out across the area, except for one stop light we approached on our way out of town.
Driving in, I experienced the weird winds and heard about the fires out by my parents’ house in Brentwood. I made an executive decision to turn around and went straight to my parents’ house, thinking Lafayette would be fine since the power was already out.
As we’re getting my parents squared away, two fires popped up in Lafayette, followed by an evacuation notice. We hightailed it back through back roads, then into to a smoky surreal environment. It was eerily quiet, and a complete dead zone. All communications were down: no cell coverage, no land line connections, no idea if we were in imminent danger or not (later we heard that embers were traveling up to a mile or more from the two fires in the area.)
The pets, that we had left in Lafayette, were fine. We loaded them up in the car and a few other things. We drove out the back way again to San Francisco. In the City, all was calm like it was never touched. All beings were safe and sound, I felt like we had exited a War Zone.
Now, I think the new normal requires that everyone needs a go-bag and an exit strategy in California.
So, what happened?
Apparently (we learned later) the line that powered the stop light that they opted to keep live was the culprit. It was sparked by a communication line that crossed the wires with a problem line. It could have been prevented if they’d hit the breaker on this one, too.
Aha, so that’s what happens when you engage in a full throttle, carpet-bombing, take no prisoners approach with a wholesale shut down of the grid. One little line can cause so many problems. BUT how could they know that?
Whose State-of-the-Art Technology?
PG&E top brass, along with Governor Newsom, attempted to calm the maddening crowds by claiming to deploy “state of the art” technology in these high wind, low humidity conditions to thwart wild fires. In reality, they’re actually using 40 year-old technology: weather forecasting models. I’m not sure what constitutes “state-of-the-art” technology in their book, but clearly it needs to be brought into the 21st century.
PG&E’s CEO even offered that they were improving the interactive map for greater detail and current data to inform communities and their citizens with critical updates, in real time. (Here’s the hitch: theoretically they couldn’t do that without using localized data, generated in real-time at the source, measuring wind impact on the lines, to quickly identify the jeopardized cable or transmission line.)
Value of Local Real-time Data
An easy and affordable solution is available and much less arduous than burying lines. Strategically deploy inexpensive devices with sensors that detect current, capacitance/voltage, and vibration (they may even include an optional speaker, or camera), that interface with small CPU’s (e.g. ARM/Intel, Rasberry Pi, Jetson or a low-end gateway), using communications protocol, for instance, an IP gateway wired or wireless, and local storage (microSD/SDD) located at strategic local junctions, close to where the data is being generated.
The sensors measure wind and the resulting oscillation of the wire. They continuously send data to gateways installed about every 1,000 meters along utility poles. When it exceeds a safe range of the established wind speed parameters, a time series database embedded in the edge devices, flags the problem and cuts the circuit on that line. Coupled with local machine learning from the sensor data, local recommendations — if not decisions — can be made in real time. And Bob’s your uncle, problem and potential fire averted.
Forecasting models are nice and can be part of a master plan to give advance warning of key areas that may be impacted. But local data generated in real-time is the new sheriff in town.
A real game changer for PG&E
It can’t be overstated how this solution would be a major game changer for PG&E and other investor-owned utilities. Real-time data collection at the source (or the edge) provides the opportunity for real-time response, increased security and safety, reduced costs across the board, beginning with teams of field engineers who now manually check lines across the entire grid for repairs and maintenance, not to mention damage due to lost homes, property, businesses, and interruption of services costs, and the most serious cost of all: lost lives.
If Governor Newsom and the PG&E bosses are serious about building a 21st century electric grid, we’d like to be your technology partner, because the solution is out there.
James Fox is the vice president of strategic partnerships for Machbase.com, a time-series database company for edge managed platforms, with offices in the Bay Area.

