I suppose that they could have done things to help prevent the fire (underground lines, etc.) but that all costs money too, and it wouldn't surprise me if they are limited in how much they can increase their rates each year??? I'm also guessing the system they are using now is up to code?
I was just talking to a friend that remodeled his house. He was talking about how the city inspections are such a scam. They charge $500(???) to look at the electrical system that the pro put in. My friend said to the inspector “So with this inspection, does the city then guarantee the work in case there is a problem?” He knew the answer (”Of course not”), but it really does show the worthlessness of the city permitting process.
Well, it appears to be over until the next time the tree leaves flutter. This is a relief as I was getting very tired of listening every 10 minutes or so to a piece of PR-type fluff trying to sell the idea that what PG was doing to a million people was for our "own good" (I presume that means PG was "protecting" us from PG.) Then, when I heard the CEO announce that "PG&E's primary responsibility to Californians is 'public safety'" I realized just how woefully incompetent and lost the utility's leadership truly is. That is, while PG has a moral responsibility to ensure their operations do no harm to people or the environment, PG's primary responsibility is to provide reliable gas and electric service. By failing to understand and perform their primary responsiblity PG also failed to meet their moral responsibility as it is likely there were a considerable number of PG "customers" who were not only inconvenienced but suffered financial and emotional harm.
So, from their perspective PG played this brilliantly. There was no financial downside to intentionally shutting the power off in 34 California counties for a couple of days. You see, it's so much easier to blame the wind (which was not a problem in more areas than not that were affected by PG's decision) and to fault the trees than do the heavy work of fixing the wires and modifying the electrical transmission system so that a weather problem in one location doesn't affect another location 200 miles away.