Wildfire Prevention Today and Tomorrow: PG&E Shares 2025 Wildfire Season Readiness Update, Showcases Local XPRIZE Wildfire Competitors

Rhea-AI Summary

PG&E (PCG) shared its 2025 wildfire season readiness update, highlighting successful prevention efforts that stopped major wildfires in 2023 and 2024. The company's multi-layered protection strategy includes 915 miles of undergrounded powerlines since 2021, with plans for 1,600 miles by 2026. Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings achieved a 65% reduction in reportable ignitions compared to 2018-2020. The company deployed 1,600 weather stations (1,400 AI-enabled) and 650 HD wildfire cameras. PG&E also showcased its partnership with XPRIZE Wildfire, an $11 million competition focused on wildfire detection and suppression innovation, featuring local teams Ember Guard and Rain developing AI-powered and autonomous firefighting solutions.

Positive

• Successfully prevented major wildfires in both 2023 and 2024 through protective measures
• Achieved 65% reduction in reportable ignitions through Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings
• Completed 915 miles of powerline undergrounding since 2021, with plans for 1,600 miles by 2026
• Deployed extensive monitoring network with 1,600 weather stations and 650 HD cameras
• Overhead system upgrades reduce wildfire ignition risk by 67%

Negative

• Extended wildfire seasons and extreme weather conditions continue to pose risks
• Power outages still affect some customers when Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings are activated
• Public Safety Power Shutoffs remain necessary as a last resort during extreme weather

Insights

Utilities Infrastructure Analyst

PG&E's comprehensive wildfire prevention program shows measurable success with 65% reduction in ignitions and concrete infrastructure improvements.

PG&E's multi-layered approach to wildfire prevention is yielding quantifiable results, with the company successfully preventing major wildfires in 2023 and 2024. The utility has implemented a sophisticated technological and infrastructure strategy that combines both immediate protection and long-term resilience building.

The infrastructure improvements are substantial and methodical. PG&E has undergrounded 915 miles of powerlines since 2021 in high-risk areas, permanently eliminating ignition risk along these routes, with plans to reach nearly 1,600 miles by 2026. Complementing this, their overhead system upgrades have covered 1,430 miles since 2018, with strengthened poles and covered powerlines reducing wildfire ignition risk by 67%.

The effectiveness of these measures is evident in the 65% reduction in reportable ignitions compared to the 2018-2020 baseline, largely attributed to their Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings (EPSS) technology. This automated system can detect hazards and cut power within one-tenth of a second, currently protecting 1.8 million customers in high-risk areas. Notably, over half of customers protected by EPSS experienced no power outages while the system was active in 2024, and when outages did occur, their duration decreased by 17% compared to previous years.

PG&E's forward-looking innovation strategy, including co-sponsorship of the $11 million XPRIZE Wildfire competition, demonstrates recognition that wildfire conditions remain dynamic and challenging. By fostering development of next-generation detection and suppression technologies through partnerships with teams like Ember Guard and Rain, PG&E is building resilience against increasingly extreme climate conditions while addressing one of its most significant operational challenges.

PG&E's Layers of Protection Are Working, Prevented a Major Wildfire in 2023 and 2024

SAN RAMON, Calif., June 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to monitor wildfire conditions and deploying proven layers of wildfire protection to prevent wildfires, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) shared its readiness ahead of peak wildfire season. These layers of protection helped prevent a major wildfire in 2023 and 2024.

Today, at PG&E's Applied Technology Services lab, the company's research and development facility, PG&E shared details about how the layers of protection are applied throughout PG&E's service area to prevent wildfires. PG&E was joined by representatives of XPRIZE Wildfire and two local teams – Ember Guard and Rain – who bring AI power and autonomous firefighting to the competition. PG&E is a proud sponsor of XPRIZE Wildfire and its work to build a pipeline of new technologies that support advanced wildfire mitigation, detection and response.

Today's Wildfire Resilience from Layers of Protection

• Undergrounding Powerlines in high fire-risk areas to permanently eliminate ignition risk. PG&E has undergrounded approximately 915 miles of powerlines since 2021 and plans to have nearly 1,600 total miles of powerlines underground by the end of 2026.
• Overhead System Upgrades include the installation of strengthened power poles and covered powerlines. This work reduces wildfire ignition risk by nearly 67% once completed. PG&E has completed more than 1,430 miles of overhead system upgrades since 2018 and plans to complete nearly 1,900 total miles of system upgrades by the end of 2026.
• Situational Awareness Improvements including the deployment of a state-wide network of nearly 1,600 weather stations, of which 1,400 are artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning enabled, and more than 650 high-definition wildfire cameras. The AI enabled cameras process data and provide automated wildfire notifications.
• Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings (EPSS) automatically turn off power within one-tenth of a second, or faster, if a wildfire hazard is detected. These settings protect 1.8 million PG&E customers in areas with elevated or extreme wildfire risk. In 2024, these settings contributed to more than a 65% reduction in reportable ignitions, compared to the 2018-2020 average. More than half of customers protected by EPSS did not experience a power outage while EPSS was enabled in 2024, and the average duration of outages on an EPSS-enabled circuit decreased 17% from the prior two-year average.
• Vegetation Management programs continue to evolve using a data-driven, risk-informed approach to help reduce both outages and potential ignitions caused by vegetation contacting PG&E's equipment. Over the past five years, PG&E has inspected, trimmed or removed over 960,000 trees and other types of vegetation in our service area.
• Drone inspections that more efficiently provide a bird's eye view of assets from the ground and air.
• Public Safety Power Shutoffs are a last resort during extreme weather conditions to reduce the risk of catastrophic fire. PG&E's experienced meteorologists use cutting-edge weather models to forecast wildfire risk at a granular level to determine the transmission and distribution circuits that will get de-energized.

"Rather than being reactive to conditions, our wildfire work proactively protects and prevents wildfire. We're keeping our system safe while we build resilience for the future. This work is essential in light of extreme weather and extended wildfire seasons," said PG&E Wildfire Mitigation Vice President Andy Abranches.

Tomorrow's XPRIZE Goal: Detect Earlier, Extinguish Faster

As wildfire conditions are dynamic from year to year, PG&E is committed to supporting a pipeline of new research, development and innovation to address climate-driven wildfire challenges. PG&E today joined XPRIZE Wildfire and two local teams participating in the four-year, $11 million competition to accelerate the speed of detection and suppression of destructive wildfires.

XPRIZE Wildfire encourages teams from around the world to innovate around a wide range of firefighting technologies across two complementary tracks designed to transform how potentially catastrophic fires are detected, managed and suppressed. PG&E is the co-title sponsor of XPRIZE Wildfire along with the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

"For 30 years, XPRIZE has spurred innovation to address the world's most pressing challenges. In 2023, we launched XPRIZE Wildfire with a goal to end destructive wildfires," said XPRIZE Wildfire Program Director Andrea Santy. "Today, we have an incredible global cohort of dozens of teams making monumental strides towards developing solutions to reach this audacious goal."

One of the Bay Area teams showcased at the event was Palo Alto-based Ember Guard, a cross-disciplinary team led by Ahvish Roy, founder of ARX, and supported by Sangram Ganguly, Chief Technology Officer of Rhombus Power. It uses deep learning along with AI to produce a scalable cloud-based high-resolution wildfire model that forecasts the likely propagation and intensity of a wildfire so that firefighters can prioritize their limited resources

Also participating was Alameda-based Rain, which recently showcased autonomous wildfire suppression technology in California. A Black Hawk helicopter equipped with wildfire mission autonomy from Rain and MATRIX™ autonomy technology from Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, conducted a demonstration of a wide range of wildfire response missions and tasks, including finding and suppressing early-state wildfires, all commanded via tablet. Rain is a participant in the Electric Program Investment Charge program, a research and development project.

Learn more about PG&E's wildfire safety efforts at pge.com/wildfiresafety. 

About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit pge.com and pge.com/news.

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SOURCE Pacific Gas and Electric Company

FAQ

What progress has PG&E (PCG) made in wildfire prevention for 2025?

PG&E has undergrounded 915 miles of powerlines since 2021, deployed 1,600 weather stations and 650 HD cameras, and achieved a 65% reduction in reportable ignitions through Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings compared to 2018-2020.

How effective are PG&E's Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings (EPSS)?

PG&E's EPSS contributed to a 65% reduction in reportable ignitions compared to 2018-2020, with more than half of protected customers experiencing no power outages and a 17% decrease in average outage duration.

What is PG&E's involvement in the XPRIZE Wildfire competition?

PG&E is a co-title sponsor of the $11 million XPRIZE Wildfire competition, supporting innovation in wildfire detection and suppression technologies through teams like Ember Guard and Rain.

How many miles of powerlines will PG&E have underground by 2026?

PG&E plans to have nearly 1,600 total miles of powerlines underground by the end of 2026, up from the current 915 miles completed since 2021.

What AI technology is PG&E using for wildfire prevention?

PG&E uses AI and machine learning in 1,400 of its weather stations and HD cameras for automated wildfire notifications and monitoring of wildfire conditions.