UPDATE: WATCH CANCELLED; NV Energy puts Carson City, neighboring communities on PSOM 'watch' Sunday due wildfire risk
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Fri, 09/17/2021 - 4:29pm
UPDATE Friday 4:30 p.m.: Public Safety Outage Management Watch CANCELLED
September 17, 2021 according to notice from NV Energy.
The statement is as follows:
The Public Safety Outage Management (PSOM) watch for your PSOM zone has been cancelled due to updated weather forecasts. We appreciate your support of our work to reduce fire risk in your community.
For more information, including preparedness tips, CRC information and PSOM criteria, please visit nvenergy.com/psom.
Thank you,
NV Energy
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NV Energy announced to its customers Thursday that it has put a Public Safety Outage Management "watch" in place for several communities, including Carson City, Minden, Gardnerville, and Jacks Valley, 19 communities in all, due to gusty winds and fire weather conditions expected to arrive Sunday.
During a PSOM event, NV Energy will shut off power in extreme and elevated fire risk areas to help prevent power lines, things that are blown into power lines, and other equipment from causing a wildfire.
Additional information on the timing and duration of the possible PSOM event will be provided as more detailed weather forecasts become available, according to NV Energy.
Strong and gusty winds are anticipated Saturday and especially Sunday, according to the National Weather Service in Reno.
In August, NV Energy announced that it has expanded its Public Safety Outage Management, also known as PSOM, to Carson City, Lyon, Washoe and Storey counties as well as Humboldt and Elko counties. Since 2019, the company has implemented the program in extreme fire risk areas of Nevada, including Douglas County, the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe and Mt. Charleston.
NV Energy says it has worked to minimize the number of customers impacted by developing plans to reroute power, when possible, during a PSOM event. The utility said PSOM is a key measure of defense against wildfires.
The following is the list of communities on the watch list:
Carson City, Minden, Cold Springs, Galena, Gardnerville, Glenbrook, Incline Village, Jacks Valley, Kingsbury, Pinenut, Raleigh Heights, Red Rock, Roundhill, South Reno, Topaz, VC Highlands, Verdi, Washoe Valley and West Reno.
Below is the letter:
We are monitoring fire weather conditions in your area and a Public Safety Outage Management (PSOM) watch is in effect for the following PSOM Zones on Sunday, September 19, 2021:
During a PSOM event, power is shut off for safety in order to help prevent power lines, or debris blowing into power lines, and other equipment from causing a wildfire when certain environmental conditions are met. Safety is NV Energy’s highest priority and PSOM is a key measure of defense to help protect the community and environment from wildfires.
Here is what you need to know:
— Please have an emergency plan ready in case we need to turn off power for public safety.
— We will continue to monitor conditions and will contact you with further updates on the status of the outage.
— This PSOM watch may be cancelled if weather conditions change
— If there is an outage, we will work to restore service as soon as it is safe to do so
— If you see a downed power line, assume it is energized and extremely dangerous and report it immediately by calling 911.
For more information, including preparedness tips, CRC information and PSOM criteria, visit nvenergy.com/psom or call 775-834-4444.
