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The Public Utilities Commission today (Aug. 20) issued a temporary restraining order enjoining San Diego Gas & Electric from implementing its emergency power shut-off plan for the backcountry until the commission issues its decision on the contrroversial question Sept. 10. There has been concern that the utility, a division of Sempra, would unilaterally launch the plan on Sept. 1 when fire season begins. Water and school districts asked for the TRO. A PUC administrative law judge earlier decided in essence that the plan would pose a greater public safety threat than the fires themselves. But one commissioner wrote an alternative opinion that would permit the plan under certain conditions. Because it has been shown that SDGE wires are a major cause of wildfire spreading, the utility proposed that electricity be cut off in affected areas when a fire threatened. But opponents of the idea said, among many things, that people might not be able to learn about the fire and be able to escape in the absence of electric power. And the pumps that provide the water to fight fires would be compromised.
The Public Utilities Commission today (Aug. 20) issued a temporary restraining order enjoining San Diego Gas & Electric from implementing its emergency power shut-off plan for the backcountry until the commission issues its decision on the contrroversial question Sept. 10. There has been concern that the utility, a division of Sempra, would unilaterally launch the plan on Sept. 1 when fire season begins. Water and school districts asked for the TRO. A PUC administrative law judge earlier decided in essence that the plan would pose a greater public safety threat than the fires themselves. But one commissioner wrote an alternative opinion that would permit the plan under certain conditions. Because it has been shown that SDGE wires are a major cause of wildfire spreading, the utility proposed that electricity be cut off in affected areas when a fire threatened. But opponents of the idea said, among many things, that people might not be able to learn about the fire and be able to escape in the absence of electric power. And the pumps that provide the water to fight fires would be compromised.