Incident Investigations for Electric Facilities
Electric utilities must report electric incidents (accidents involving electric facilities), which meet any of the criteria below:
- A fatality or injury involving electric facilities.
- Damage to property of the utility or others in excess of $50,000.
- Significant media coverage.
- A major outage to at least 10% of the utilities entire service territory is experienced at a single point in time.
In general, the electric utility must report these types of incidents to the CPUC within two (2) hours of their occurrence. ESRB investigates these incidents to enforce the CPUC’s rules and regulations and to determine how we can limit the occurrences of such incidents in the future. ESRB produces an investigative report for each incident reported and investigated.
To request a copy of a report, please contact our Legal Division with a specific and focused request so that the records can be identified, located and retrieved our staff:
CPUC Legal Division Public Records Office
505 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102
Fax: (415) 703-2262
Phone: 415-703-1366
For more details about the reporting requirements, please see the excerpt from Appendix B to D.06-04-055 and CPUC Resolution E-4184.
Historical Incident Statistics
Note: The data below was collected from our database through December 2023.
Total Number of Reported Incidents
The table below shows the total number of reported incidents by each utility per year.
| Utility | Total | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 |
| Bear Valley Electric | 17 | 0 |
1 |
0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pacific Gas & Electric | 1241 | 57 | 91 | 90 | 93 | 81 | 57 | 79 | 33 | 50 | 82 | 115 | 103 | 77 | 57 | 49 | 44 | 83 |
| PacifiCorp (Pacific Power) | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Souther California Edison | 669 | 36 | 22 | 26 | 41 | 32 | 40 | 41 | 52 | 52 | 74 | 50 | 49 | 36 | 25 | 39 | 27 | 27 |
| San Diego Gas & Electric | 224 | 4 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 11 | 8 | 21 | 18 | 15 | 38 | 15 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 14 | 26 |
| Liberty Utilities | 12 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Yearly Total | 2189 | 97 | 127 | 125 | 146 | 123 | 115 | 134 | 110 | 123 | 182 | 206 | 167 | 124 | 92 | 95 | 87 | 136 |
Total Number of Fatalities and Injuries per Utility
The table below shows the number of fatalities and injuries that resulted from reported incidents for each utility.
| Utility | Total | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 |
| Bear Valley Electric | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pacific Gas & Electric | 280 | 12 | 14 | 20 | 22 | 18 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 24 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 18 | 14 |
| PacifiCorp (Pacific Power) | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Southern California Edison | 363 | 19 | 13 | 15 | 23 | 18 | 32 | 16 | 19 | 24 | 35 | 22 | 25 | 24 | 20 | 23 | 18 | 17 |
| San Diego Gas & Electric | 62 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| Liberty Utilities | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Yearly Total | 714 | 34 | 32 | 38 | 49 | 39 | 54 | 33 | 35 | 51 | 59 | 44 | 49 | 42 | 33 | 39 | 43 | 40 |
Total Number of Utility Incidents by Cause
The table below shows the total number of reported incidents sorted by cause for each utility.
| Cause | Total | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 |
| Aircraft | 58 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Animal | 50 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Capacitor Bank Failure | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Circuit Breaker Failure | 20 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Dig in | 72 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 12 |
| Fire | 174 | 9 | 19 | 14 | 18 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 8 |
| Hardware Failure | 27 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Human Error | 31 | 1 | 3 |
0 |
2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Insulation Failure | 28 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
0 |
1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Natural Cause | 90 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 13 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| OH Conductor Failure | 115 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 13 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 1 |
| OH Splice/Connector Failure | 53 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| Overhead Contact | 175 | 5 | 6 | 10 |
16 |
11 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 18 | 15 | 16 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 9 |
| Pole/Tower | 27 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Pothead Failure | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Substation/Switchyard Equipment | 49 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Switch Failure | 44 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| Theft/Vandalism | 68 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Third Party | 88 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| Transformer Failure | 89 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Transmission Equipment Failure | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tree Trimmer | 63 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| UG Cable Failure | 100 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 13 | 4 | 9 |
| UG Splice/Connector Failure | 70 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 6 |
| Unknown | 202 | 19 | 21 | 17 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 17 | 23 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 19 |
| Utility Contractor | 35 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Utility Working Overhead | 128 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 9 | 11 |
| Utility Working Underground | 45 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
| Vegetation | 147 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 28 | 7 | 8 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 10 |
| Vehicle | 112 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 9 | 15 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 13 |
| Yearly Total | 2176 | 96 | 117 | 118 | 146 | 124 | 112 | 140 | 110 | 123 | 182 | 206 | 167 | 125 | 92 | 95 | 87 | 136 |