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Posted By: WayneShaw California Power Outage - 10/13/19
Does anyone besides me think this is pure bullschit?
Posted By: viking Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
I haven’t heard about it.
Posted By: Oldman03 Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
I dont think it's BS. Imagine you're a company and you were blamed for burning down all those houses and loss of lives. You were not allowed to properly clear the right of ways to prevent fires, but you were blamed for the loses and had settlements and fines levied against you. Now you're still in business, but cant pay the monies owed, so you file bankruptcy. To prevent further fires, you cut the power........ no electricity flowing thru the lines, no fires if trees fall on it.

I do think the power company, PG&E, cut the power to the wrong people. If they supply Sacramento, capitol of CA., they should have started there with the power outage, then went to SF, LA, etc. Those are the people that ham-strung the power company in the first place and should be the first ones without power.
Posted By: jpb Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
Originally Posted by Oldman3
I dont think it's BS. Imagine you're a company and you were blamed for burning down all those houses and loss of lives. You were not allowed to properly clear the right of ways to prevent fires, but you were blamed for the loses and had settlements and fines levied against you. Now you're still in business, but cant pay the monies owed, so you file bankruptcy. To prevent further fires, you cut the power........ no electricity flowing thru the lines, no fires if trees fall on it.

I do think the power company, PG&E, cut the power to the wrong people. If they supply Sacramento, capitol of CA., they should have started there with the power outage, then went to SF, LA, etc. Those are the people that ham-strung the power company in the first place and should be the first ones without power.

What?! The power company can't clear the rights-of way where they have power lines?

That is REALLY strange!

john
Posted By: poboy Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
Pie-in-the-sky-enviromentalists causing death and destruction up and down
the left coast.
Posted By: Mannlicher Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
PGE gets sued if they provide power. They get sued if they DON"T provide power. A lose/lose situation for them
Posted By: gsganzer Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
I thought PG&E got shafted on that court case and don't blame them for cutting power. There's an inherent risk to running electrical power and we all bear that risk for the convenience of electrifying our country. The subsequent fire was devastating and the loss of life terrible. Unless it was determined PG&E was grossly negligent in correcting an obvious hazard after being repeatedly notified of the hazard, I can't see how that ruling ever stood. From what I read, I believe there were some issues with right-of-way access too.
Posted By: fishdog52 Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
California is an ongoing study in the perverse and absurd.
And "they" seem proud of it.
Posted By: Seafire Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
Originally Posted by Mannlicher
PGE gets sued if they provide power. They get sued if they DON"T provide power. A lose/lose situation for them


PG&E, ain't no angel Sam....

CA is screwed up on both sides of the equation....

and there is too much for people to believe its all just that simple...

Randy did submit the best solution tho to the problem...

but CA is a testing ground for governmental control of the population, by giving and taking away their electrical power..

The 31 counties where power was cut, had Police Depts and local Militia anticipating a major increase in crimes while the power was cut....and cities had armed militia patrolling the streets...

you boys back east probably didn't hear that on the news reports I'd bet....
we certainly heard it on the local news on the radio out this way...
Posted By: Seafire Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
Originally Posted by jpb
Originally Posted by Oldman3
I dont think it's BS. Imagine you're a company and you were blamed for burning down all those houses and loss of lives. You were not allowed to properly clear the right of ways to prevent fires, but you were blamed for the loses and had settlements and fines levied against you. Now you're still in business, but cant pay the monies owed, so you file bankruptcy. To prevent further fires, you cut the power........ no electricity flowing thru the lines, no fires if trees fall on it.

I do think the power company, PG&E, cut the power to the wrong people. If they supply Sacramento, capitol of CA., they should have started there with the power outage, then went to SF, LA, etc. Those are the people that ham-strung the power company in the first place and should be the first ones without power.

What?! The power company can't clear the rights-of way where they have power lines?

That is REALLY strange!

john


A drop in the bucket of all the stupid things that take place in California....

people who claim to be environMENTALists, have CA so screwed up.....

Hwy 199 from here down to the CA coast has rain induced landsides which close the road annually, yet the enviro Wackos take a legal route to stop the state from repairing those areas to prevent those problems happening ever again... and they do that every year I've lived here.. and that has been 25 years now...
Posted By: BlueDuck Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
Just another self inflicted wound.
PG&E wasn't supposed to be able to cut the power unless the conditions for a "red flag warning" were met....those conditions were never met in 90% of the areas they cut power to....in fact, the USFS started a prescribed burn in El Dorado county, that turned into a "wildfire".....Sacramento & other large cities were mostly unaffected because PG&E isn't their power company.... PG&E is looking for steep rate hikes to cover their tracks on mismanagement & over spending on "green" projects, and THAT is the reason the power was cut...
Posted By: dave7mm Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
communist dont keep the power on...

dave
Posted By: specneeds Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
They have been doing it for years in San Diego county, SDGE is a little more nimble in covering their asses. The outages are about liability not safety since many back country homes need well pumps running to knock down small blazes & stop larger fires from starting. I suggested they do an interest free program to allow people without lots of money to install generators - no interest on the Utilities part.

They love the punishment element of the program. Not speculation I was an employee years ago when they implemented program - told not to express my opinion after the first time.

In fairness to them improving fire safety has been their top priority for over 10 years now, of course at the expense of very high rates.
Posted By: 45_100 Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
Originally Posted by fishdog52
California is an ongoing study in the perverse and absurd.
And "they" seem proud of it.


Pretty much explains it all!
Posted By: Yoder409 Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
Kalifornia's chickens...……...……….are coming home...…………..to ROOST !!!!
Posted By: Barkoff Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
Well this is mostly like everything else in this country, lawyers.
PG&E is tired of being sued for fires. A vast state like CA, with THOUSANDS of miles of power lines running through woods and along mountain roads, if one line goes down and starts a fire, a pack of lawyers attack to the tune of billions. I don’t see PGE having any choice but to do this to survive.
Posted By: 280shooter Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
We've never had electricity in Idaho, in case any Californians are wondering.
Posted By: FreeMe Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
Originally Posted by 280shooter
We've never had electricity in Idaho, in case any Californians are wondering.


We did.......but the nuke generator made us glow. Then the skinheads made nooses from all the wiring.
Posted By: Greyghost Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
Creates a growing market for those that build portable generators. Hell today any private household should have a couple. And apartments or anything more than small duplexes should have emergency back up generators. Those places where the individual person isn't allowed to have their own.

Phil
Posted By: hanco Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
A lot of people out there were dropped on their heads!!!
Posted By: Greyghost Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
I don't worry about being without power, I worry a lot about being able to evacuate on short notice with all my dogs.

Phil
Posted By: hatari Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
Originally Posted by Greyghost
Creates a growing market for those that build portable generators. Hell today any private household should have a couple. And apartments or anything more than small duplexes should have emergency back up generators. Those places where the individual person isn't allowed to have their own.

Phil

Then tell me about all the AGren regulations Sacremento will put on those personal generators and how those gas/desiel engines will hasten climate change. Then the haz mat tax for storing the fuel on site. Etc.

That is your California.
Posted By: FreeMe Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
Originally Posted by Greyghost
Creates a growing market for those that build portable generators. Hell today any private household should have a couple. And apartments or anything more than small duplexes should have emergency back up generators. Those places where the individual person isn't allowed to have their own.

Phil


Instead, what will happen is that when the sheep get to bleating loud enough, Sacto will take over the PG&E and run it like the Bolsheviks.
Posted By: Greyghost Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
That or they'll get rid of all the regulations that benefit the power industry and restrict any real benefit of the home owner having solar.

Phil
Posted By: RufusG Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
Originally Posted by Greyghost
That or they'll get rid of all the regulations that benefit the power industry and restrict any real benefit of the home owner having solar.

Phil


Like the regulations that just bankrupted PG&E?
Posted By: FreeMe Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
Originally Posted by Greyghost
That or they'll get rid of all the regulations that benefit the power industry and restrict any real benefit of the home owner having solar.

Phil


California? Get rid of regulations? Yer smokin' some good stuff.
Posted By: Greyghost Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
PG&E Bankrupted themselves with years of abuse an doing nothing in the way of maintenance. And if anything had to do with the company ignoring regulations.

Phil
Posted By: RufusG Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
Originally Posted by Greyghost
PG&E Bankrupted themselves with years of abuse an doing nothing in the way of maintenance. And if anything had to do with the company ignoring regulations.

Phil


You are a glaring neon cautionary tale for someone who is so blinded by their biases that they are completely unable to grasp the simplest bits of reality.
Posted By: Greyghost Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
BS, I use to change out the poles and towers, Most of the infrastructure at the time was close to 100 years old. And whether you'd like to admit it or not. The company's did little in the way of trimming, or removing trees, or even looking at the under-growth from their rights of way. I can first hand attest to how expensive it is to even change out a single pole. But they had no trouble at all to hand out those extreme pay and benefit packages to the upper echelon workers (those white collar leeches).

Phil
Posted By: GregW Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
They probably couldn't get the permits to cut or brushhog the power line easements anymore because of the northern spotted tree lizard or some other ESA or 404 issue or some BS. California is a joke...
Posted By: RufusG Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
Originally Posted by Greyghost
BS, I use to change out the poles and towers, Most of the infrastructure at the time was close to 100 years old. And whether you'd like to admit it or not. The company's did little in the way of trimming, or removing trees, or even looking at the under-growth from their rights of way. I can first hand attest to how expensive it is to even change out a single pole. But they had no trouble at all to hand out those extreme pay and benefit packages to the upper echelon workers (those white collar leeches).

Phil


That doesn't have anything to do with why they're bankrupt, whether it's legitimately true or not. But please let your knee keep jerking reflexively in your hate for capitalism.
Posted By: mtnsnake Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
What is with all the fires burning? I thought they turned the power off so there would not be any fires.
Posted By: Greyghost Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
Rufuss, it has everything to do with the Bankruptcy... Its what caused it.. responsibility for and their liable for the damages caused from the fires!
Posted By: poboy Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
If your electric car battery dies, so can you, for all Governor Newsom cares.
Posted By: CalHunter Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
I don't work for PG&E so I don't know why they do such a crappy job of clearing trees and brush around power poles and lines in my county. Been that way for at least the last 30 years. It could be stupid regulations from Sacramento, environmentalist lawsuits and activist judges, corporate laziness to save costs or even just crappy job performance from all the 3rd party contractors they hire to do the clearing. Probably a combination of all of the above. I wouldn't lay all of the blame on PG&E but they are not innocent either.
Posted By: local_dirt Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
Originally Posted by RufusG
Originally Posted by Greyghost
BS, I use to change out the poles and towers, Most of the infrastructure at the time was close to 100 years old. And whether you'd like to admit it or not. The company's did little in the way of trimming, or removing trees, or even looking at the under-growth from their rights of way. I can first hand attest to how expensive it is to even change out a single pole. But they had no trouble at all to hand out those extreme pay and benefit packages to the upper echelon workers (those white collar leeches).

Phil


That doesn't have anything to do with why they're bankrupt, whether it's legitimately true or not. But please let your knee keep jerking reflexively in your hate for capitalism.




That's not capitalism, my friend. That's unrestrained, unrestricted snowballing malfeasance and misuse of public funds.
Posted By: RufusG Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
Originally Posted by Greyghost
Rufuss, it has everything to do with the Bankruptcy... Its what caused it.. responsibility for and their liable for the damages caused from the fires!


The bankruptcy has everything to do with the "inverse condemnation" rules in CA state law. PGE does not have to be shown negligent to be sued into oblivion. That's the beginning and end of it. If they replaced equipment and cleared brush to the extent necessary to lower the odds of any big fire bankrupting them, your rates would be several times what they are at least.

Idiotic bolshevik law plus greedy lawyers is the complete equation. People love to blame the utility but then they immediately schitt the bed when their rates go up to replace equipment or do maintenance.
Posted By: Greyghost Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
Like with Boeing and some of the other large corporations that deliberately ignore safety resulting in multiple deaths for no reason other than profit. They need to do like some of the other third world country's and take the top half dozen or so executives and hang the [bleep]...

Phil
Posted By: RufusG Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
Originally Posted by Greyghost
Like with Boeing and some of the other large corporations that deliberately ignore safety resulting in multiple deaths for no reason other than profit. They need to do like some of the other third world country's and take the top half dozen or so executives and hang the [bleep]...

Phil


Since it is clear that CA is chock full of folks with similar reasoning skills to you, that third world country part is just around the bend.
Posted By: logger Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
Originally Posted by Greyghost
PG&E Bankrupted themselves with years of abuse an doing nothing in the way of maintenance. And if anything had to do with the company ignoring regulations.

Phil



All overseen by the California PUC and tangentially the California Energy Commission, the Governor and the Legislature.
Posted By: RufusG Re: California Power Outage - 10/13/19
The California Rule That Doomed PG&E: Inverse Condemnation

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...le-that-doomed-pg-e-inverse-condemnation

"That’s why California utilities can be held liable for damages from fires sparked by their equipment, even if they followed all of the state’s stringent safety rules. They can try to pass on those costs to ratepayers, but there’s no guarantee such efforts will get approved by the state’s California Public Utilities Commission."
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