PG&E power shutdown begins in California amid threat of 'explosive' wildfires, affecting millions

https://www.foxnews.com/us/pge-power-shutdown-california-wildfire-threat-blackout

This seems sort of unbelievable, in 2019. (Yes, no?)

Puerto Rico was the subject of many jokes and much criticism of their power grid prior to Hurricane Maria, but this story is about California.

Is this PG&E overreacting because of the cost/blame they incurred after last year's Paradise fire? Are PG&E's lines just not up to par? Or is this a reasonable safety precaution, and has nothing to do with the quality of the lines or paranoia on the part of PG&E?

Here in Florida we're somewhat accustomed to power outages and preparation, because of the hurricanes over the years, but it sucks. It's hot as hell without AC, homes with wells have no water, your food goes bad if the power is out long enough, and people start getting stir crazy with no electricity. Not to mention the mobs to buy water, supplies, and fuel to prepare for the loss of electricity if a hurricane hits.

I wonder how Californians will react.

Stay safe California board members, and don't go too nuts without electricity!

 

California power cut: Mass outage to hit 800,000 homes for up to six days in bid to stop wildfires
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/california-power-cut-pge-shutdown-outage-pacific-gas-electricity-wildfires-a9148386.html

How sad that the once great golden state has been brought to its knees by misgovernment and legislators pandering to focus groups comprised of assorted stoners, tree-huggers, re-wilders and ecological extremists so that now California has severe problem issues that need confronting urgently -

* cannabis legalised and other wide-spread problem drug abuse
* mismanaged or wild forests plagued with devastating wild-fires
* tree-hugger settlements and public roads built within or abutting mismanaged forests
* forest wild-fires killing residents in their own homes or vehicles
* frequent and economically ruinous power cuts

A better way is possible with the following common-sense policies.

Make cannabis illegal, arrest and lock up the drug-dealers and their high profile stoner-customers - popular music stars, Holywood actors and unimpressive billionaires, but not just so as the rich and famous drug-users are to be pampered in private, privileged rehabilitation centres but so as to be locked up with their ordinary stoner fans and customers who have followed them to drug-addled ruin.

Invest in the biomass-burning power generation industry, which can provide low-cost renewable energy back-up power at times of low solar and wind generation, harvesting the American West's wild-fire prone forests, making it profitable to control wild-fires so as to protect the valuable biomass fuel trees / crops.

Enforce tough new building codes, defining vegetation control zones widely around buildings and electricity transmission lines, requiring trees, shrubs, long grasses etc to be cut and / or grazed down so as to control the quantities of incendiary vegetation to fire-safe levels.

For sound commercial and economic reasons, separate -
1. managed, harvested forests
from
2. managed vegetation-control zones
with fences
and have different animal management policies depending on which side of the fence and what type of animal.



1. In vegetation-control zones, shepherd grazing sheep / goats / deer etc to keep the vegetation grazed and short. Build fences to stop grazing animals wandering onto the roads or into towns or into the forests or anywhere they are not wanted or needed.
In vegetation-control zones, shoot predators of grazing animals - mountain lions, wolves, coyotes, bears etc. to protect the grazing animals, allowing the population of grazing animals to grow to a size limited only by the available grazing.

2. Whereas in managed, harvested forests, very different animal policies should apply -
Shoot grazing animals, to protect the trees / crops for the forestry businesses.

Avoid shooting forest-dwelling predators of grazing animals which cautiously keep to the forest and just let them starve to death if there are no grazing animals for them to catch and eat in the forests. That way any predators which are lucky enough to survive in the forest will be very hungry and desperate to eat any grazing animal which somehow manages to get into the forest.
The fear of forest predators hopefully should also help to deter uninvited tree-huggers who dare to enter the forest where they are not normally allowed except with permission of the forest managers.

Facilitate commercial forestry with new access roads for company lumberjacks and their harvesting machines but deter public access to those forest roads which would likely be abused by tree-huggers, campers with their camp-fires, dropped cigarettes etc. that do start wild-fires.

Summary

I'm a scientist but all of my advice is just good common-sense but let's remember that the stoners have lost most of the common sense which they or their parents once had so common-sense policies will likely have to be imposed by the rule of law.

Looking at the chaos of power cuts which California has descended into now it would be naive to expect those stoners to be able to save themselves so the US government should be prepared, if necessary, to federalise the National Guard and task them to help to save Californians from themselves.

This advice offered in respect of the agreement between the elected governments of Scotland and California, signed by First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon and Governor of California Jerry Brown, reported by the BBC on 3rd April 2017.



My 100% Renewable Energy Blog
https://scottishscientist.wordpress.com/
* Wind, solar, storage and back-up system designer
* Industrial Vandalism: how market forces delay the transition to 100% Renewable Energy
* Remedying UK Power Cuts and Re-nationalising the Grid
* Double Tidal Lagoon Baseload Scheme
* Off-Shore Electricity from Wind, Solar and Hydrogen Power
* World’s biggest-ever pumped-storage hydro-scheme, for Scotland?
* Search for sites to build new pumped-storage hydroelectricity schemes
* Glasa Morie Glass Pumped-Storage Hydro Scheme
* Let’s supersize × 1000 the tiny Glasa hydro scheme!
* Modelling of wind and pumped-storage power
* Scotland Electricity Generation – my plan for 2020
* South America – GREAT for Renewable Energy

 

If they have to turn off the power for 5 days because of things they knew would happen sooner or later, then there's a serious mismanagement problem in California, but we all knew that. This could also be the way the power company shakes down the rate payers for an increase in their electric rates.

 

The mismanagement is only getting worse.

They are shutting down power in southern California starting tomorrow.

Average IQ here is 95.

 

@Steve N and @US Conservative ---- "mismanagement" was the word I was looking for in my OP.

 

I smelled what you were cookin.

 

Some good sound renewable energy ideas along with forest management ideas. However the anti cannibus and mass incarceration of cannibus users or dealers is insane and will never happen. Many of the State’s cannibus users are now licensed by the state and the others who aren’t are no threat to the community. That idea is about as stupid as the prohibition of alcohol driven by a bunch of crazy religious freaks back in the ‘20s here in America. Also unlike alcohol there has been research and development regarding the medicinal use of THC and CBD which is nothing short of amazing.

 

You should get up there with a rake and solve the problem instead of your constant bellyaching.

 

Since CA is moving towards socialism, we may as well get used to no electricity.

 

Ah yes Im to blame for the entirely democrat run state failing to meet the basic functions of a civilization-like energy and keeping feces off the streets.

Half of the people in this state have an IQ below 95.

 

If you are one of those who blindly support Trump, his corruption and his insane daily rants there’s a good chance you are on the bad side of the Bell Curve.

 

Socialism is responsible for building the TVA, Hoover Dam, Grand Coulee Dam which to this day provide electricity to hundreds of millions. What an idiotic statement.

 

Enjoy your idiocracy.

 

Why don't you grab your hammer and sickle and take care of those shrubs?

 

Do you know what socialists used for lighting before candles?

Electricity!

 

At least I am smart enough to live where I choose in this land of the free. I love California so here I’ll stay. People who live in a place they can’t stand among people they despise don’t seem too smart to me.

 

Some of us stay (temporarily) for professional reasons.

 

I use hedge trimmers and weed eaters to keep my 5 acres of beautiful high desert/ mountainside California landscape under control.

 

You wouldn’t know a socialist if he poked you in the eye with a stick.

 

Cop out.

 

California's inadequate forest management actually is part of the problem. Look at that, you were trying to be funny and you actually hit on one of California's real problems instead!

I wonder if it's just a matter of time before we've got caravans of Californian migrants too, when California starts to seem a little too much like Mexico. We might have to build more walls barriers

Not everyone is entirely free to choose where they live due to things like work, family, and real life. It's part of that personal responsibility thing the left despises so much....

 

I sure hope all of the malcontents here get the hell out and all the Monday morning QBs trashing our state from the cheap seats stay away. You guys bring down the energy level and your constant whining is counterproductive. That leaves more space for the positive people from around the world and around the country who stream in here every day.

 

Some people live to whine and wallow in pity......I used to see them all the time in country beer joints....

 

"positive people from around the world and around the country who stream in here every day" ---- is that what you call illegals now?

You couldn't pay me to leave Florida for California.

 

Sounds like democrats.