Posted on 10/14/2019 5:59:41 AM PDT by karpov
...
California residents have come face-to-face with an uncomfortable new reality: Large swaths of the stateby itself the fifth-largest economy in the world, and home to the globes most technologically advanced companiesmay be subject to the sort of abrupt blackouts normally associated with underdeveloped countries.
The states three big investor-owned utilities now have regulatory permission to cut off power to parts of their service territories during strong winds to reduce the risk of their electric lines causing wildfires, after at least 21 blazes linked to utility equipment killed more than 100 people and burned tens of thousands of homes in recent years.
PG&E, the troubled utility that provides gas and electricity to more than 16 million people across 70,000 square miles of northern and central California, is a lightning rod for public anger. The company trails its peers in technology to track winds and isolate the areas where equipment is at highest risk of sparking fires. It is also running far behind on several of its most important safety efforts, records show, including this years tree-trimming campaign, which is less than 50% complete.
We are seeing the scale and scope of something that no state in the 21st century should experience, Gov. Gavin Newsom said speaking Thursday in Mather, Calif. Whats happened is unacceptable, and it has happened because of neglect.
At a press conference Thursday, PG&E Chief Executive Bill Johnson said, I do apologize for the hardship this has caused, but I think we made the right call on safety. Mr. Johnson, who was named CEO in April, also apologized for the frustration customers faced as they tried to find out whether they would lose power on a website that kept crashing and maps that were inconsistent. We were not adequately prepared, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Interesting...Where can I find that link? I have family being affected by the outages...
PG&E is blameless.
Because they shut them down during high wind events even if there isn't a fire danger.
Great summary.
Remember what happened to the kulaks...
When I first read Atlas Shrugged, 30+ years ago, I saw it as a warning.
Now I see it as prophesy, in many ways. We’re actually watching it happen before our very eyes, just not “exactly” as it happens in the book.
You should buy a backup phone like the one at the link below for your house phone. It does not require electricity. My dad has a similar one. He also has generators fueled by gas and propane.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Cortelco-Desk-Value-Line-Corded-Telephone-Ash-ITT-2500-MD-ASH/204416835
You can still buy landlines that work during power outages. I have one that the base unit looks like desk office type phone and has cordless handsets. During power outages the base works like old fashioned landline phone. The cordless units that work off of it don’t work but the main phone does.
From the article: now have regulatory permission to cut off power to parts of their service territories..
No way they will be allowed to cut off power to the megabillions tech industry. They might make somebody mad who actually matters.
Do those other windy places on earth have the electrical lines running over kindling?
The result of California’s “green policies”.
Newsome says it was “neglect”.
Meanwhile, PG&E paid $2.8 billion more buying power from “renewable” sources - to satisfy the mandates written into law that require PG&E obtain set %s of power from “renewables” - than it would have paid buying electricity wholesale on the open market off the grid. If Newsome or anyone else wants to look for money for more infrastructure maintenance and investment, they need to look no further than California’s “green” mandates.
This power cutoff reduced Californias carbon footprint
to the goal: Ethiopia!
It’s about how the high winds can topple a tree, that happens to fall on a power line, creating an open line that sparks on some dry brush on the ground.
It is not merely the wind and electricity all by themselves creating a fire.
I don’t think can install wood burning stoves or fireplaces in new construction...Not sure about retrofitting/installing in older construction...
California is the only state which no longer cuts fire-lines in its wilderness regions. Unless this has changed or will change the infernos will continue. Evil is, does.
Yes, next Californians will be burning COW DUNG for cooking outdoors in their yards.
From a link further down in your article. Could power be shut off for days at a time?
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2017/12/17/california-sets-new-record-for-longest-ever-wildfire-warning/
We put out plenty of red flag warnings, but we havent seen them out 12 days in a row. Thats unusual, said National Weather Service meteorologist Curt Kaplan. This has been the longest duration event that we have had a red flag warning out without any breaks.
Dont forget the elk stampedes!!
Yes, NY sounds like a safe space for these refugees.
Everyone should focus on removing offensive murals in schools.
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