“Are people accepting these power outages as an inevitable fact of life, or are they getting fed up with it?”
Depends who you ask. We live at the end of a service line so we probably experience more than our average shore of outages meaning, we are kind of used to it.
The outages or Public Safety Power Shutdowns (PSPS) are becoming more precise and a lot shorter. I also think some of it is actuarialy based meaning PG&E is getting better at calculating where problems may occur and how much risk the wish to assume.
People fail to realize that PG&E is hamstrung by the state with all sorts of mandates that had nothing to do with safety; they can very quickly tell us how many people of a particular race are employed by them but not how much equipment needs replacement. You get what you vote for.
I am also amused by the PSPS because after our fires (Nuns/Tubb) in 2017 people were screaming that PG&E should have shut the power off given the forecast; now that they are doing it, they are upset. Be careful what you ask for and sue over.
People are also very resistant toward PG&E removing vegetation and trees to make the lines safer. Often, their crews and contractors need an armed presence to protect them from people angry over tree removal or trimming.
During the Nuns Fire, we were 22 days without power. We got by and had a small generator to save a few things. Having been a Marine Infantryman, I didn’t think it bad at all nor did my wife. Also, doing without power for a day or two (Usually what a PSPS is) or even a week so my neighbors do not lose their homes or their lives is fine by me and a small thing to do, in my book.
I understand people being upset about the state’s mismanagement though it actually has more to do with people’s voting and their belief that every problem is due to some corporation rather than decades of democratic rule.
The PG&E employees are great. During the Nuns Fire, while fire crews were battling the blaze and aircraft were dropping water and retardant, I witnessed a PG&E crew erecting poles and stringing line within a few hundred yards of the blaze. I always watch these lineman work. They are incredibly brave and risk their lives for us everyday. Sadly, most are afraid one someone from the public approaches them as they have been harassed so much.
I’m in Marin County just north of San Francisco. Very foggy and drippy this morning. Earlier today I drove north to Sonoma County and had to use my windshield wipers. The moisture ought to help with potential fire danger.
I read that PG&E has been directed to spend money on green energy and not maintaining their infrastructure, resulting in a lot of these problems.
I guess I should be thankful that this insanity has not yet come to NC, although I think it is inevitable that it will engulf the whole country, it not the western world.