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 state—by itself the fifth-largest economy in the world, and home to the globe’s most technologically advanced companies—may be subject to the sort of abrupt blackouts normally associated with underdeveloped countries.
The state’s 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 year’s 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. “What’s 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 ...
Mike Adam’s had a video where he points out that wind doesn’t cause electrical fires.
This power cutoff reduced California’s carbon footprint.
Do it again.
I wonder how long it will take for those High tech Companies (Mostly in Silicon Valley) to leave the State? Austin TX should be prepared.
I do not understand how all of a sudden wind and electricity create fires? They are way windy places on Earth and they do not have this problem. Why all of a sudden over the last 2 years and ONLY in California. I am calling B.S. on PG&E.
Who is telling them to to this.? I know the Governor now has them protected from lawsuits so that the taxpayers pick up the tab.
I don’t understand. I assumed all progressive Californians used solar power
Who is John Galt?
The best part is the Solar power people clowns did not work with the electricity off.
Oh and all those Tesla electric cars could not be charged.
Bingo
I hear Colorado is nice. Don’t move here!
This was simply PG&E flexing its muscles in advance of asking for big rate hikes.
This event is an excellent introduction to what the effects of implementing the Green New Deal would look like. I hope people get this.
Austin and Denver. Even KCMO is trying to become the next Silicon Valley.
The corrosive green nonsense is now affecting California but it won’t be limited to the land of fruits and nuts. In New York, the vile Governor Cuomo has prevented fracking, gas pipelines and is dismantling nuclear power plants. Unfortunately this lowlife will be out of office at the time power outages and brownouts begin to decimate New York, Connecticut and New Jersey.
Ya gotta love old Governor Gav.....
“Governor Newsomebutnotenough signed into law a bill outlawing fire.”
I heard it and Mike did a great job!
Newsom says it’s due to neglect. Would be interesting to hear him expound on that.
CA is crazy-land, a cancer that shouldn't be allowed to spread. Are they still welcoming invaders with open arms, while that can't provide basic needs for their citizens? Do their windmills, solar panels and electric cars function when the grid is down?
“I do not understand how all of a sudden wind and electricity create fires?”
Wind causes tree limbs to break and trees to blow over onto power lines bringing them down. That causes sparks and fires in dry areas.
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