According to a story Sunday in the San Francisco Chronicle, PG&E expects that power shut offs, even if more limited in the future, will likely remain necessary for 10 years. I suspect affected businesses, fi they can do so, will relocate outside the PG&E area and property in PG&E power shut-off areas will decline in value. I live in a PG&E area of Vacaville so far unaffected by the outages, which have crippled many businesses. More shut-offs to prevent utility-related fires are expected later this week because of high winds and low humidity. Another reason for many to leave California or not come here in the first place.
I'm sure it's a great time for the generator industry. I'm going to put on some tinfoil for a second... you know, this is one way to force alternative energy sources, or depopulate an area. Just sayin'.
My CBS News Sacramento affiliate reports that the economic losses from the current round of PG&E shut-offs could total $2 billion. PG&E says its policy is to NOT reimburse customers for shut-off losses.
I was thinking this was unsustainable, but now I'm thinking the number of people it affects is pretty insignificant, compared to the state as a whole. And it's not going to happen very often. I think people who want to live in remote areas are just going to have to have a generator for when we get these high winds.