Posted on 10/11/2019 6:15:48 AM PDT by karpov
Californians are learning to live like the Amish after investor-owned utility PG&E this week shut off power to two million or so residents to prevent wildfires amid heavy, dry winds. Blame the state’s largest blackout on a perfect storm of bad policies.
Two dozen or so wildfires in the past few years have been linked to PG&E equipment, including one last fall that killed 85 people. PG&E under state law is on the hook for tens of billions of dollars in damages and has filed for bankruptcy. For years the utility skimped on safety upgrades and repairs while pumping billions into green energy and electric-car subsidies to please its overlords in Sacramento. Credit Suisse has estimated that long-term contracts with renewable developers cost the utility $2.2 billion annually more than current market power rates.
PG&E customers pay among the highest rates in America. But the utility says inspecting all of its 100,000 or so miles of power lines and clearing dangerous trees would require rates to increase by more than 400%. California’s litigation-friendly environment has also increased insurance rates for tree trimmers and made it hard to find workers.
Meantime, opposition to logging and prescribed burns in California’s forests compounded by a seven-year drought has yielded 147 million dead trees that make for combustible fuel. Rural communities are at especially high fire risk when winds kick up as they have this week.
...
Suddenly, Californians are learning to love fossil fuels. Stores have experienced runs on oil lamps—yes, those still exist—and emergency generators fueled by gasoline, propane or diesel. Napa County wineries and even the tunnel connecting San Francisco with the East Bay are operating on generators.
Most batteries that store solar power can’t keep homes charged for more than a day during a blackout,
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
***I picked some oil based lamps.***
I have always felt the need to keep oil based lamps on hand “just in case”. Several years back we had a massive ice storm which knocked out power for three or four days.
I pulled out every old lamp, lantern and even the camping lanterns out. and had them going for several days as I also had a decent supply of lamp oil on hand.
In listing to the only local radio station still broadcasting, I heard several people (Dial-A-Trade) willing to sell half a bottle of lamp oil, for a price!
The ice storm had been predicted, but few still prepared for it.
One thing was noticed, some people bought brand new generators for the ice storm. Their lines did not go down so after the storm, they all took their unused generators and tried to get their money back from the stores. This caused the stores to issue a NO MONEY BACK policy UNLESS the generator itself was at fault.
Oh, you guys have it all wrong, the state is simply training its subjects to do without electricity so they will be prepared for social unrest in the coming years.
This is also why the state is banning Ham Radio repeaters on public land which cost the state nothing. They can’t have citizens communicating with each other when the state comes down like a lead balloon on its subjects for total control and domination.
The Peoples Republik of Kalifornia is coming...
/s (or is it?)
PGE executives got an 11 million dollar bonus recently.
=:-)
Had a gas generator on hand for quite awhile. Problem is they burn a lot of gasoline which I was not crazy about stocking in the garage. Keep a good supply of wood and if we ever lost power during the winter for a long length of time, at least we would not freeze. Does not get cold here much though as our last measurable snow was in 89 at one inch.
Kalifornia = Venezuela
My 40-year-old son and his wife live in L.A. and say they are “democratic socialists.” Hopefully, but doubtfully, this will provide them with a wake-up call.
The Squatters will soon be teaching the Elites survival skills.
For a certain price of course:-)
And if they do, he and the rest of the country should give the middle finger salute and tell them “you made your bed, now lay in it” and tell the self-righteous idiots in Hollywood to bail them out.
Research the rules and regulations imposed upon PG&E regarding maintenance of right-of-way for distribution lines. That litany of idiocy explains much of how they arrived in their present crippled condition.
GRAZE IT OR BLAZE IT
Ranchers/farmers know that is basic to the health of the forests.
Clinton & his Interior Secretary shut down roads all around & thru the forests. They dug large holes (Big enough to bury a Volkswagon ++ ) in already existing roads-—right behind the massive gates they installed.
Firefighters couldn’t get to blazes with equipment. Many fires since could ONLY be fought by “Hot Shots’ who parachute in.
INSANITY!!!
For now, they are diverting more of the gasoline tax collections to other than transportation use.
This is also why the state is banning Ham Radio repeaters on public land which cost the state nothing. “””
Strange: I know a man who set up multiple towers for Nevada County in N Calif for the Sheriff’s office going into 2000. No one was sure about communications in that ‘changeover’.
Lots of rural areas do not have cell phone coverage, and Ham Radio is how they have been communicating for years.
It would be hilarious to cut the power in Studio City and Beverly Hills.
I never saw or heard of them stocking up at the last minute. Did they?
The article mentions they pay high electric bills. What is an average monthly bill there?
Apparently the ignorant powers that be in CA are putting all their eggs into an expensive failure-prone system and kicking the free-to-them Ham Radio operators out.
This is all about being in total government control and taking away all control from the people. Like I said, when the time comes for these treasonous people to pay for their crimes, I hope they get the proper and due punishment for their crimes. This is beyond bad judgment; this is criminal. I consider them war criminals before the fact.
I have a couple old hurricane lamps that have passed down the family. Haven’t had to use them, yet (knock on wood).
Lots of candles stored back from garage sale freebies and I try to keep flashlight batteries charged. Have some in the charger now.
Have wide heavy duty foil on the shopping list to repair the cardboard solar oven. Hopefully the grocery store will have some with the holidays coming up. Wishful thinking on that one since they never have celery or Karo syrup so why should they stock foil for the turkey this time of year?
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