Energy Safety Releases Draft Safety Certification Guidelines for Public Comment

SACRAMENTO – The Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety (Energy Safety) today released its Draft Safety Certification Guidelines for public comment. The guidelines set forth requirements electrical corporations must meet for issuance of a safety certification as described in Public Utilities Code section 8389.

Written public comment will be accepted until Tuesday, July 9, 5 p.m. (20 days from publication) with the reply comment deadline set for Friday, July 19, 5 p.m. (10 days from the opening comment deadline). Comments and reply comments must be submitted to the Safety Certifications Guidelines docket (Guidelines-SCs) via Energy Safety’s e-filing system.

The guidelines will be considered for adoption during a virtual public meeting on August 7, at 1 p.m.

A safety certification is designed to encourage electrical corporations to invest in safety and to improve safety culture to limit wildfire risks and reduce costs (AB 1054, Section 2(f).) A safety certification is validation that an electrical corporation has documented completion of certain statutory actions related to safety. It does not constitute affirmation by Energy Safety that an electrical corporation has taken all possible steps to prevent its equipment from causing wildfires or is in full compliance with its wildfire mitigation plan or other laws and requirements. (Pub. Util. Code § 8389[e][1-7])

For more information please see Safety Certification FAQ.