Economy PG&E: Troubled Power Utility to Pay $125 Million in Fines and Penalties for the Kincade Fire of 2019

the only thing that would make pge worse if if the inept california government takes over it
 
Why don’t they bury the lines?
Add an increase to the bill to pay for it. Once paid drop the extra fee.
 
California does controlled burns. It's just not feasible to do it over millions of acres or near people's homes.
The obvious solution here is to continue to build more and more houses in these fire prone areas. It's been working well so far.
And let’s continue to blame hunters for wildlife populations declining because continued urban expansion resulting in habitat loss for these species isn’t a thing either.
 
California does controlled burns. It's just not feasible to do it over millions of acres or near people's homes.

Is this a new policy? I'm sure that they didn't always do it.

But buns aren't really the answer for this - they need to clear the right of ways.
 
Move to Florida?
I live in Florida, we have shit weather. It’s just hot and humid the whole year vs a dry mild climate like Cali.

Edit: well Southern California is the one with the nice weather, idk about NorCal
 
I would think that the state almost has to. Or at least take it over long enough to sort it out and then auction it back into the private sector. It's a public utility, I don't think the state can or should ignore what that means for its residents.
 
I’ve gotta be 100% honest

Gavin Newsom has been pretty great so far. Fuck PGE just don’t try and take our guns and I’m good
 
I would think that the state almost has to. Or at least take it over long enough to sort it out and then auction it back into the private sector. It's a public utility, I don't think the state can or should ignore what that means for its residents.
FWIW this is the second time in the past 2 decades that PGE has filed bankruptcy. California tax payers bailed them out last time as well

If the state chooses to let them fail then they pretty much have to take over or all hell will break loose
 
After some more reading it seems that Brown signed something last year to allow for more burns - I read they only burned 19,000 acres the year before. Thats less than .001%

That's the problem. Prescribed burns are extremely expensive and need a lot of manpower to make sure they stay under control. You also need very specific weather conditions to do anything with them. Which is why they aren't used more widely.
 
That's probably been the plan all along. Dems in Cali would love to get their hands on that much power and control and MONEY. They'd start fining people, forcing people into Solar that doesn't work and using the money for "climate change" which means it would simply disappear. God help those of us in California if it happens. Our politicians are too corrupt and inept to have that much power. It will surely be a shit show just like everything else they touch. ;)
 
That's probably been the plan all along. Dems in Cali would love to get their hands on that much power and control and MONEY. They'd start fining people, forcing people into Solar that doesn't work and using the money for "climate change" which means it would simply disappear. God help those of us in California if it happens. Our politicians are too corrupt and inept to have that much power. It will surely be a shit show just like everything else they touch. ;)

Yea, the "plan" was fjor a private company to be extremely negligent in regard to their infrastructure maintenance resulting in dozens of deaths from wildfires sparked by their equipment, so the state could take them over. You are a fucking lunatic.
 
To all the WarRoom posters and mods who live in California, get out while you still can.
 
I grew up in NorCal (Roseville). My Mom's place, sister's place, and many friends are living the Black Out Life created by California Democrats.

Step 1: Take over Legislature
Step 2: Force heavily regulated Public Utility to spend money on "Green Projects" and not on infrastructure
Step 3: Experience results of infrastructure neglect and lack of results from Green Projects - Black Outs become "new normal"
Step 4: Push for "Public Outrage" over mismanaged Utility
Step 5: Have Government take over Utility

This is straight up Communist / Socialist pattern to seize power and control. Next up! Oil and Gas Industry as gas prices go above $5 a gallon.
 
To all the WarRoom posters and mods who live in California, get out while you still can.

I am working on it. I have a son still in High School (Junior). 1.5 years and my Huntington Beach home becomes an AirBnB.
 
Yea, the "plan" was fjor a private company to be extremely negligent in regard to their infrastructure maintenance resulting in dozens of deaths from wildfires sparked by their equipment, so the state could take them over.
Calm down, Jim. That's not what I meant. The lousy way that they have dealt with it since the fires has made us all around here predict, apparently accurately, that Newsom wants to get his greedy corrupt hands on all that power and money. It's what the Dems do. Our Govt. here is equally to blame for not maintaining our forests becuase they are too busy kissing the asses of environmental groups.

My buddy Whip said it quite well here:

Step 1: Take over Legislature
Step 2: Force heavily regulated Public Utility to spend money on "Green Projects" and not on infrastructure
Step 3: Experience results of infrastructure neglect and lack of results from Green Projects - Black Outs become "new normal"
Step 4: Push for "Public Outrage" over mismanaged Utility
Step 5: Have Government take over Utility

This is straight up Communist / Socialist pattern to seize power and control. Next up! Oil and Gas Industry as gas prices go above $5 a gallon.
 
Anyone owning and running PGE is better than the current owners who fucked this up.

Gavin urged Warren Buffet to bid for PGE. Maybe it'd be better if a private corporation owns it..idk...

I don't mind if the government owns and runs our utility. In fact I've always thought it was the government who provides our utilities. We're already paying taxes, I don't mind paying a little more if it means we get what we pay for.

I'm more mad at the fuckers at PGE who caused billions of dollars in damage and getting off scot-free with their millions.
 
Calm down, Jim. That's not what I meant. The lousy way that they have dealt with it since the fires has made us all around here predict, apparently accurately, that Newsom wants to get his greedy corrupt hands on all that power and money. It's what the Dems do. Our Govt. here is equally to blame for not maintaining our forests becuase they are too busy kissing the asses of environmental groups.

My buddy Whip said it quite well here:

So basically the same conspiracy theory repackaged.

Not surprised.
 
Why don’t they bury the lines?
Add an increase to the bill to pay for it. Once paid drop the extra fee.

They already had that discussion last year, and here's the rub:

1) The increase on the monthly bill would be 10x just to move overhead lines into the ground, because underground wires cost 10 times more than overhead.

2) Underground wires would be even more liable to damages since concrete-floored Californian cities floods like a mofo every time there's a storm, plus the ground below that concrete is constantly shifting back and forth from the weekly earthquakes.

3) Annual maintenance cost for underground wires inside the cities would be astronomical, when they have to dig up the roads and repave them for miles each time a simple inspection and troubleshooting is required.

Long story short, some stretches of wires in remote areas outside the city - especially in the areas where the fire risks are high - will be put in the ground, but the vast majority of the state's power grid where people actually live will remains overhead, for both economical and safety reason.

Power lines keep sparking wildfires. Why don’t California utility companies bury them?
BY TONY BIZJAK, SOPHIA BOLLAG AND DALE KASLER | NOVEMBER 16, 2018

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Why don’t they just put the damn power lines underground?

In fire-scarred California communities, that question is being posed, often angrily, as evidence mounts that the state’s traditional overhead electrical power grid is at times a liability, culpable for starting some of the state’s biggest blazes.

State regulators point out that overall, only about 10 percent or less of the state’s wildfires are triggered by power line issues. But they acknowledge the state’s 176,000-mile system of overhead electrified lines has played a role in igniting some of the biggest and most destructive fires in recent years.

So why not bury the problem?

One California utility company plans to do that. San Diego Gas & Electric officials said next year they will begin converting 20 miles of overhead wires to underground in a high fire-risk area around Cuyamaca Rancho State Park and the town of Campo, where the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Border Patrol has a station.

The San Diego utility also is exploring a dozen other areas for potential future undergrounding of wires, with fire safety as the main reason, a spokesman said.

Officials at PG&E, which serves much of Northern California, said they are working on a test project that would put power lines underground along the Bohemian Highway in Sonoma County where thousands live among densely wooded hillsides.

Utilities often now put power underground in newer urban developments, but that is typically for esthetics and traffic movement, not explicitly for fire safety.

The state’s top electricity safety regulatory official, Elizaveta Malashenko of the California Public Utilities Commission, said running power lines underground is far from a panacea. And, in most cases, it’s simply not worth the cost, she said.

“Underground is about 10 times more expensive than overhead,” said Malashenko, who is the PUC safety and enforcement division director. “If we were to underground (throughout) California, all our rates would go up ten times.”

Malashenko, utility officials and even utility critics point out that there are other good reasons not to go underground: California is prime earthquake country and seismic activity is more likely to disrupt underground wires than overhead wires. Underground wires also are susceptible to flood damage, and are more difficult to perform maintenance on because often they are buried under roads. Underground utilities also are trickier to troubleshoot when issues, such as outages, occur.

But Malashenko and others acknowledge the cost of undergrounding in some areas may be viewed more favorably if the financial and human costs of fires continue to mount in California.

Already, analysts said, fire liability costs are putting PG&E in financial peril.

Utility companies, meanwhile, say they are ensuring more safety by taking steps to “harden” the grid, including the tree abatement, synthetic coating of wires, and replacement of wood with steel poles being pushed by the Legislature.

They also are employing a controversial new tool PG&E calls a “public safety power shutoff program.” It involves temporarily cutting power to areas when weather and wind reports indicate high fire danger.

https://amp.sacbee.com/news/business/article221707650.html
 
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