PG&E is pretty arrogant, considering the facts that their actions caused fatalities in cancers discovered by Erin Brockovich (in CA’s Central Valley during the 1970s-80s), in the 2010 gas explosion in San Bruno, and in the recent No CA fires (Santa Rosa, Napa, and Paradise). It would be better is the PUC, PG&E, the Governor, and the Legislature set some ground rules regarding any future mass power outages like the one we experienced last week. A run on supplies including gas, generators, water, ice, food, medicine, flashlights, batteries and other necessities caused many local stores to run out of such items. People with medical needs were cut off from power, as were those who need pumps to deliver water. PG&E should not be allowed to mandate power outages alone.
I guess when they notified people last year that they would shut down power if conditions warranted, after losing a lawsuit for causing the fires, people should have prepared for this. Don’t forget that the state approved rate increases for these utilities to help pay for the lawsuit they lost. So we as consumers of this utility are ultimately paying the cost of this.
So yes, please, shut the power down if that is what it takes to prevent another 100k acre fire that will cause them to be sued. Especially if losing that lawsuit allows them to increase their rates.
At least when the power is shut off, it doesn’t cost me anything.
I heard a report last week that PGE had asked the legislature for approval to add $$$ to consumer bills for funds to improve line management & brush removal & the legislature refused their request. Is that true? If yes, doesn’t your legislature bear some responsibility?
I’ve been hearing reports for a year or more about the potential for power outages during high wind events. What do you expect your governor/legislature do. . .require the wind to notify them 6 months in advance if it plans a wind storm? If you have special needs perhaps you need to plan accordingly.
Ok, I live in the area that was to have power outages. They maximum estimated would be 800,000 to lose power. We had about 3 days warning at least that this was coming but what was ridiculous was the fact that the wind was only going to hit 30-40 mph which is a bit high but not that big a deal. So everyone is getting prepared and the wind never came. Maybe in some area spikes of 30 mph but for the most part it was very calm. In my area I had a one hour spike of 17 mph but other then that the wind never went over 10 mph. I have a wind meter. Approximately 400,000 were shut down if that and for no reason. People were not happy and everyone is laughing at PG&E. I have no idea were anyone is getting this millions number from. This was the biggest joke I have ever seen. If PG&E is going to start shutting off the power everytime a leave moves this is not going to go well.
Can you blame them? Massive lawsuits, unreasonable expectations on monitoring millions of miles of power lines? Cut the power because you do not have the manpower and resources – Anger. Leave power on and massive fire results – Anger
They gave a years notice – it gets windy in late Sept, early October EVERY YEAR. Get your generator in place and get ready. Just like winter and power outage in the Midwest – you know it is coming, you get prepared.
There are years we will lose our power for several days at a time in the Winter in the Midwest, as Caldude said above. The only people that complain are the people new to the area that aren’t familiar with what we consider “normal”. For us, it’s pretty simple to deal with. We normally have 5-7 days notice from the weather reports of a bad snow/ice storm that is coming. You don’t wait until the last minute to make certain you have all the things you need, you shop early. Sometimes the storms will miss us, in which case you have the stuff you need for the next one. It’s really not a big deal once you know to expect it. Not having power for a few days isn’t a bad thing at times. Nights by the fireplace, people actually talking to one another (instead of looking at phones) and usually some excellent home-cooked meals.
PG&E is pretty arrogant, considering the facts that their actions caused fatalities in cancers discovered by Erin Brockovich (in CA’s Central Valley during the 1970s-80s), in the 2010 gas explosion in San Bruno, and in the recent No CA fires (Santa Rosa, Napa, and Paradise). It would be better is the PUC, PG&E, the Governor, and the Legislature set some ground rules regarding any future mass power outages like the one we experienced last week. A run on supplies including gas, generators, water, ice, food, medicine, flashlights, batteries and other necessities caused many local stores to run out of such items. People with medical needs were cut off from power, as were those who need pumps to deliver water. PG&E should not be allowed to mandate power outages alone.
I guess when they notified people last year that they would shut down power if conditions warranted, after losing a lawsuit for causing the fires, people should have prepared for this. Don’t forget that the state approved rate increases for these utilities to help pay for the lawsuit they lost. So we as consumers of this utility are ultimately paying the cost of this.
So yes, please, shut the power down if that is what it takes to prevent another 100k acre fire that will cause them to be sued. Especially if losing that lawsuit allows them to increase their rates.
At least when the power is shut off, it doesn’t cost me anything.
I heard a report last week that PGE had asked the legislature for approval to add $$$ to consumer bills for funds to improve line management & brush removal & the legislature refused their request. Is that true? If yes, doesn’t your legislature bear some responsibility?
I’ve been hearing reports for a year or more about the potential for power outages during high wind events. What do you expect your governor/legislature do. . .require the wind to notify them 6 months in advance if it plans a wind storm? If you have special needs perhaps you need to plan accordingly.
Ok, I live in the area that was to have power outages. They maximum estimated would be 800,000 to lose power. We had about 3 days warning at least that this was coming but what was ridiculous was the fact that the wind was only going to hit 30-40 mph which is a bit high but not that big a deal. So everyone is getting prepared and the wind never came. Maybe in some area spikes of 30 mph but for the most part it was very calm. In my area I had a one hour spike of 17 mph but other then that the wind never went over 10 mph. I have a wind meter. Approximately 400,000 were shut down if that and for no reason. People were not happy and everyone is laughing at PG&E. I have no idea were anyone is getting this millions number from. This was the biggest joke I have ever seen. If PG&E is going to start shutting off the power everytime a leave moves this is not going to go well.
I was affected too.
I will take a power outage over a 100k acre fire. Every. Single. Day.
Can you blame them? Massive lawsuits, unreasonable expectations on monitoring millions of miles of power lines? Cut the power because you do not have the manpower and resources – Anger. Leave power on and massive fire results – Anger
They gave a years notice – it gets windy in late Sept, early October EVERY YEAR. Get your generator in place and get ready. Just like winter and power outage in the Midwest – you know it is coming, you get prepared.
There are years we will lose our power for several days at a time in the Winter in the Midwest, as Caldude said above. The only people that complain are the people new to the area that aren’t familiar with what we consider “normal”. For us, it’s pretty simple to deal with. We normally have 5-7 days notice from the weather reports of a bad snow/ice storm that is coming. You don’t wait until the last minute to make certain you have all the things you need, you shop early. Sometimes the storms will miss us, in which case you have the stuff you need for the next one. It’s really not a big deal once you know to expect it. Not having power for a few days isn’t a bad thing at times. Nights by the fireplace, people actually talking to one another (instead of looking at phones) and usually some excellent home-cooked meals.