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Thread: Lights out

  1. #1

    Default Lights out

    520,000 without electricity for a week in California. PG&E shut off the power due to forecast winds. Didn’t want another fire like last year.


  2. #2
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    I guess that's cheaper than maintaining the ROWs.

    Alan

  3. #3
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    My nephew is a foreman on a linecrew in Northern Cali. They are contracting and doing replacements and upgrades. He's been out there since spring working some crazy hours. The pay is great but he's only been back to see his family two or three times since May. They are spending some serious money out there to bring things up to standard so they don't have a repeat of earlier events. I don't have much empathy for them for letting things get in such a sad state. Their feet's to the fire, pardon the pun, and they are having to do things they should never have to do like cut power to their customers and pay out the nose to bring their plant back in shape.

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    Senior Member WolfVanZandt's Avatar
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    I guess it's better than being held hostage by Enron. Not much, though.
    True enough, my final home is still out there, but this is most certainly my home range and I love it. I love every rock I fall off and tree I trip over. Even when I am close to dying from exhaustion, a beautiful sunset doesn't lose it's power to refresh and inspire me and that, in itself, is enough to save me sometimes.

  5. #5
    Woodsman Adventure Wolf's Avatar
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    Is this really about stopping Wildfires, or is this about bending the California government over by using intimidation?

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    From the news, if I heard correctly, I understand that a man relying on an oxygen generator died after the power went off unannounced. So they are willing to cut off the power to save the trees but killing people doing so. Homicide? Manslaughter? Justifiable sacrifice for the common good?

  7. #7
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    If a person is listed on lifeline then they won't cut power (or any services) to that individual for any reason. It would have to be a case of not being on the list and you can't blame the company if they didn't know. They are also first to be restored in an outage. Those devices are on battery backup but they don't last all that long.

  8. #8
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Anybody want to invest in a generator business in CA?
    Can't Means Won't

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    If they weren't so anti fossil fuels like natural gas, Generac would have a gold mine.

    Alan

  10. #10
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    It's about not starting fires but it's about not incurring liability. I'm not certain which is highest on the list.

  11. #11

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    Is there a vital necessity that transmission lines run in the open air on top of poles?
    There's no way to bring them to ground level in hardened concrete tunnels (other than money?)
    If we are to have another contest in…our national existence I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's, but between patriotism & intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition & ignorance on the other…
    ~ President Ulysses S. Grant

  12. #12
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Nothing that I'm aware of. Cost per mile is usually the driving factor for any utility.

  13. #13
    Senior Member Phaedrus's Avatar
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    I'm not an expert on the power grid so forgive me if this is naive but why don't they bury the lines in areas at highest risk of wildfire? I understand it's somewhat more expensive but the Camp fire cost something like half a billion dollars- it can't be as expensive as letting it burn.

  14. #14
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Burrying the lines might interfere with the pointy toed three eyed slug.
    Can't Means Won't

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  15. #15
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    You are looking at the overall cost of the fire. That's not what it cost PG&E. AND, there is a difference between maintenance and construction. Maintenance is a write off.

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    Senior Member WolfVanZandt's Avatar
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    But, Crash, underground wiring causes cancer.
    True enough, my final home is still out there, but this is most certainly my home range and I love it. I love every rock I fall off and tree I trip over. Even when I am close to dying from exhaustion, a beautiful sunset doesn't lose it's power to refresh and inspire me and that, in itself, is enough to save me sometimes.

  17. #17
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by WolfVanZandt View Post
    But, Crash, underground wiring causes cancer.
    So does licking the pointy toed three eyed slug.
    Can't Means Won't

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  18. #18

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    their prepping to cull the herd yeah buddy had they done this in socal oh my
    it would be watts riots 20.0
    coyotes listen to them, like children of the night what music they make.

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