# PG&E cuts electricity to 24,000 customers **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 24, 2019, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pg-e-cuts-electricity-to-24-000-customers/840742 "2019-09-24T05:39:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pg-e-cuts-electricity-to-24-000-customers/840742/21 "2019-09-24T17:27:14Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > What a fucking stupid thread. You understand that the problem is that downed power lines can cause fires, right? However many men we put on the moon and whatever year it is, we’re not going to be able to snap our fingers and cancel out the potential effects of high winds. You might as well rail about construction companies that can’t build hurricane-proof roofs In 2019 In The Country That Put A Man On The Moon. This was, almost certainly, the right call to make in the circumstance. But let’s not let PG&E off the hook for getting itself into these circumstances in the first place. They’ve spent a decade or more cheaping out on maintaining and upgrading their equipment in favor of bigger profits. They’re in this position due to their own mismanagement. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pg-e-cuts-electricity-to-24-000-customers/840742/22 "2019-09-24T17:31:51Z")
Perhaps. But I don’t see any evidence that there is some other transmission method that avoids these issues (other than burying power lines, which creates a whole new set of problems). ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pg-e-cuts-electricity-to-24-000-customers/840742/23 "2019-09-24T17:53:52Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Perhaps. But I don’t see any evidence that there is some other transmission method that avoids these issues (other than burying power lines, which creates a whole new set of problems). It’s true that even a properly maintained, state of the art power system is still going to be subject to these sorts of events, and PG&E might have had to do this shutdown even if they’d done everything right in the last ten years. But that’s kind of a moot point, because they didn’t do everything (anything?) right in the last ten years, and they have a poorly maintained, outdated power system that breaks catastrophically way too often. I’m way past giving them any sort of benefit of the doubt when it comes to this shit. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pg-e-cuts-electricity-to-24-000-customers/840742/24 "2019-09-24T18:13:10Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Maybe if they used [a giant hedge trimmer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mfz1YrpMbBg). > [@BubbaDog](#): > > Gotta get me one of those. My first thought as well. And my backyard is just the size of a postage stamp (a really, really large postage stamp, but you get the idea). Still, my hedges got out of control due to lax upkeep. Wonder if there is one that can do the tops? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pg-e-cuts-electricity-to-24-000-customers/840742/25 "2019-09-24T18:28:27Z")
I inherited a butt-load of PG&E stock, and unloaded it just before they burnt down half of Oakland (or wherever that was, don’t recall). I check on stock prices for grins, and smile quietly to myself every time I see this shit plummet. After the Camp Fire, I just felt bad. But, damn! Glad I liquidated that stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pg-e-cuts-electricity-to-24-000-customers/840742/26 "2019-09-24T18:31:44Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Perhaps. But I don’t see any evidence that there is some other transmission method that avoids these issues (other than burying power lines, which creates a whole new set of problems). Tesla had wireless power figured out at the end of the 19th century after all. > **[World Wireless System](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wireless_System)** > > The World Wireless System was a turn of the 20th century proposed telecommunications and electrical power delivery system designed by inventor Nikola Tesla based on his theories of using Earth and its atmosphere as electrical conductors. He claimed this system would allow for "the transmission of electric energy without wires" on a global scale as well as point-to-point wireless telecommunications and broadcasting. He made public statements citing two related methods to accomplish this from th Du... Why aren’t we doing that? :mad: [/sarcasm] ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pg-e-cuts-electricity-to-24-000-customers/840742/27 "2019-09-25T01:07:23Z")
Not surprising that those who support PG&E live thousands of miles away from California. The San Bruno explosion was the first hint. They got lots of money approved to check out gas pipelines, and stuffed it all into profits. So they had no idea of what lines were where, overpressurized some, and boom. People dead. Yeah, trimming trees near power lines is a big job. Which they had money for. But it inflates the bonuses of the execs if the money isn’t spent. After the fires they can afford to spring for ads every five minutes on local stations on how first responders just love PG&E. Yeah, they create interesting disasters. Or how to escape from fires PG&E starts. It’s not like it builds business - maybe they can use some of that budget to trim more trees. Sure turning off power is better than another fire starting (but I don’t live in the affected areas) but I get the impression that there is a PG&E attitude of “diss us for burning down your town? No power for you.” The Utilities commission was in their pocket, but all in all it is capitalism at its best. My wife hates them even more than I do. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pg-e-cuts-electricity-to-24-000-customers/840742/28 "2019-09-25T01:25:22Z")
Friends of mine works for LADWP. This is due to risk of mountain fires when the winds actually come. So the upcoming service cuts is so we don’t have another fire like last year where Trump gets to make fun of us and tell us to rake better. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pg-e-cuts-electricity-to-24-000-customers/840742/29 "2019-09-25T01:44:00Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > It’s true that even a properly maintained, state of the art power system is still going to be subject to these sorts of events, and PG&E might have had to do this shutdown even if they’d done everything right in the last ten years. So, beinbg out there in sunny California, they must be wishing for lots of individual homeowners spending their own upfront capital to put solar panels on their roofs, and connect those up ro the grid. That would provide lots of small, distributed ‘generating plants’ scattered throughout the system to add power. Especially power added on hot, dry sunny afternoons – peak time for electricity use. So P G & E must have been pushing that a lot, right? Ha! Just like all the profit-draining “investor owned” utilities, they were fighting tooth & nail against customer-provided renewable power. Adding every kind of bureaucratic obstacle and dragging their feet every time they could. And counting on their bought-and-paid-for friends on the regulatory commission or in local building inspectors to interfere whenever they could. Let 'em burn. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pg-e-cuts-electricity-to-24-000-customers/840742/30 "2019-09-25T01:57:10Z")
Exactly! They got regulations in place that restrict homeowners from installing more panels than they needed to cover their regular usage. So if your roof would handle enough panels to provide double your power, you can’t install that many. PG&E sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pg-e-cuts-electricity-to-24-000-customers/840742/31 "2019-09-25T02:05:22Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > It’s true that even a properly maintained, state of the art power system is still going to be subject to these sorts of events, and PG&E might have had to do this shutdown even if they’d done everything right in the last ten years. So, beinbg out there in sunny California, they must be wishing for lots of individual homeowners spending their own upfront capital to put solar panels on their roofs, and connect those up ro the grid. That would provide lots of small, distributed ‘generating plants’ scattered throughout the system to add power. Especially power added on hot, dry sunny afternoons – peak time for electricity use. So P G & E must have been pushing that a lot, right? Ha! Just like all the profit-draining “investor owned” utilities, they were fighting tooth & nail against customer-provided renewable power. Adding every kind of bureaucratic obstacle and dragging their feet every time they could. And counting on their bought-and-paid-for friends on the regulatory commission or in local building inspectors to interfere whenever they could. Let 'em burn. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pg-e-cuts-electricity-to-24-000-customers/840742/32 "2019-09-25T03:35:28Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Exactly! They got regulations in place that restrict homeowners from installing more panels than they needed to cover their regular usage. So if your roof would handle enough panels to provide double your power, you can’t install that many. > > PG&E sucks. Odd trivia - if you have solar in CA and you are normally connected to the grid, if power goes out you will still lose power. When power is out, utilities require a cutoff so you can’t feed power back into the grid. It makes sense since utility workers going to work on lines wouldn’t want solar generated power to be live in those transmission lines.f Now, if you have a backup generator, or batteries, you’re fine. You’ll have to have a cutoff switch so you don’t feed back into the grid though. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pg-e-cuts-electricity-to-24-000-customers/840742/33 "2019-09-25T04:19:35Z")
PG&E is shit – I was out there when their gas line obliterated several families in San Marino around dinner time. But strangely, I’m somewhat sympathetic toward them in the wake of last year’s catastrophic fires. I mean, atmospheric conditions are to blame for the fires more than anything. I don’t see how bankrupting them with floods of lawsuits helps anyone, particularly when the source of the problem are probably the very people wanting a piece of their ass financially, driving their big gas guzzling SUVs all over Nor-Cal. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pg-e-cuts-electricity-to-24-000-customers/840742/34 "2019-09-25T10:25:24Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > Odd trivia - if you have solar in CA and you are normally connected to the grid, if power goes out you will still lose power. When power is out, utilities require a cutoff so you can’t feed power back into the grid. It makes sense since utility workers going to work on lines wouldn’t want solar generated power to be live in those transmission lines.f That was neither odd nor trivial. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pg-e-cuts-electricity-to-24-000-customers/840742/35 "2019-09-25T10:32:32Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > I get the feeling we could get a bear cub in the woods, dress it up in a suit, make it the CEO, pay it in fish and berries, and we would be pretty much in the position we’re in now. > > Seriously, as long as it had the same staff as the last CEO, how bad could the bear cub do?? But where would we find 2.5 million dollars worth of fish and berries? Oh wait, Whole Foods… ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pg-e-cuts-electricity-to-24-000-customers/840742/36 "2019-09-25T11:07:04Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > Odd trivia - if you have solar in CA and you are normally connected to the grid, if power goes out you will still lose power. When power is out, utilities require a cutoff so you can’t feed power back into the grid. It makes sense since utility workers going to work on lines wouldn’t want solar generated power to be live in those transmission lines.f > > Now, if you have a backup generator, or batteries, you’re fine. You’ll have to have a cutoff switch so you don’t feed back into the grid though. I’m surprised that solar panels aren’t installed with a transfer switch, the same as a home generator. Or does the ability to sell power back to the utility make that hard/impossible? ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pg-e-cuts-electricity-to-24-000-customers/840742/37 "2019-09-25T11:07:16Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > Odd trivia - if you have solar in CA and you are normally connected to the grid, if power goes out you will still lose power. When power is out, utilities require a cutoff so you can’t feed power back into the grid. It makes sense since utility workers going to work on lines wouldn’t want solar generated power to be live in those transmission lines.f > > Now, if you have a backup generator, or batteries, you’re fine. You’ll have to have a cutoff switch so you don’t feed back into the grid though. Why can’t you install a backfeed breaker with a solar installation? Is there some technical reason? ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pg-e-cuts-electricity-to-24-000-customers/840742/38 "2019-09-25T11:49:56Z")
Your favorite kind of monopoly, a government protected one. (also the only kind that persists) ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pg-e-cuts-electricity-to-24-000-customers/840742/39 "2019-09-25T12:32:39Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > Why can’t you install a backfeed breaker with a solar installation? Is there some technical reason? I’m not sure actually. But I had a discussion with the installer about it and they said it was a requirement that it was done that way. Perhaps if you tinker it can be done, but the way it works in most setups is homes with solar typically always pull from the grid, and all generation goes back to the grid, and then the energy generated is netted against the energy used. Your house doesn’t get powered directly from the panels. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pg-e-cuts-electricity-to-24-000-customers/840742/40 "2019-09-25T19:58:32Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Your favorite kind of monopoly, a government protected one. (also the only kind that persists) Actually my power is coming from a third party, through PG&E lines, and is mostly renewable. For less. I can be 100% renewable if I wanted to pay a bit more. Only the government could force PG&E to do this. Or do you want multiple power lines coming into each house? Ever heard of a natural monopoly? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pg-e-cuts-electricity-to-24-000-customers/840742.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pg-e-cuts-electricity-to-24-000-customers/840742.md?page=3)