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.
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 right in the last ten years, and they have a poorly maintained, outdated power system that breaks catastrophically way too often.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.
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?
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.
Tesla had wireless power figured out at the end of the 19th century after all.
Why aren’t we doing that? :mad:
[/sarcasm]
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.
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. 
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
That was neither odd nor trivial.
But where would we find 2.5 million dollars worth of fish and berries? Oh wait, Whole Foods…
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?
Why can’t you install a backfeed breaker with a solar installation? Is there some technical reason?
Your favorite kind of monopoly, a government protected one. (also the only kind that persists)
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.
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?