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To those in NorCal about to lose power for days, stay safe Login/Join 
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posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by corsair:
quote:
Originally posted by Jimineer:
quote:
Originally posted by M-11:
What could possibly go wrong...?


Portable generators started fires last time they did this, so I heard.

? Which fire?

How does a portable generator start a fire?

The problem with generators is most people have no idea how to use them or, prioritize. Home Depot, Lowe's, Ace Hardware, WalMart, Costco.. they're all sold-out. If anything, plug-in your refrigerator. Some people have tried to jury-rig their gen to their outside circuit panel...yeah, disaster.
 
Posts: 4979 | Registered: April 20, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Freethinker
Picture of sigfreund
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It’s not just Californians who don’t have generators.

Based on what I’ve read here, that’s true of most people everywhere, including in areas that suffer from power outages far more frequently than there. The person who lives on the east coast of Florida should assume that sooner or later he will need a generator if he wants uninterrupted power, but in California? Who was predicting that, and even if it had been announced far in advance, there are people who don’t have the money or knowledge to buy a generator and get it installed properly.




6.4/93.6

“Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.”
— Plato
 
Posts: 47407 | Location: 10,150 Feet Above Sea Level in Colorado | Registered: April 04, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Get Off My Lawn
Picture of oddball
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^^^^^^^^

When I lived in CA, I had two Honda red units (still have 'em) and a gasoline supply. Used them a few times during the Enron brownouts in the early 2000s, but they were for earthquake preparedness & SHTF. But I was the only one in my neighborhood to have one, also none of my friends or family owned one either.

Some of them used to joke with me being a "prepper". I'll bet none of them are laughing now.



"I’m not going to read Time Magazine, I’m not going to read Newsweek, I’m not going to read any of these magazines; I mean, because they have too much to lose by printing the truth"- Bob Dylan, 1965
 
Posts: 16690 | Location: Texas | Registered: May 13, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of smlsig
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quote:
Originally posted by slosig:.....

The problem is less about the wire and more about not keeping proper vegetative clearance. I suspect this is largely due to tree huggers and outfits like the Sierra Club. There may be some laziness/cheapness/poor prioritization, but I’d guess it has more to do with CA being a place where people get there panties in a bunch when you cut trees.

SCE has caused fires multiple times over the years and managed to escape liability in court. It sounds like they may not this time over the Ojai, Santa Paula, Ventura, Fillmore, Santa Barbara fire almost two years ago. They have better insurance coverage than PG&E though, so they may not have to go BK.

It is a little challenging as PG&E was responsible for the Camp fire that destroyed the town of Paradise and killed somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 people. It doesn’t make sense to destroy the company though as that would leave millions of people out of power. Perhaps in China they might execute some executives, but we don’t do that sort of thing here. Besides, if they really did try to clear appropriately around the lines and were stopped/prevented by regulators or envirowhacko lawsuits, what should they have done?

It may be that this is the new normal. If you won’t let us clear around the lines and you still want to hold us responsible for any resultant fires, we’ll de-energize any at risk lines to avoid creating fires. Unfortunately, due to the way the infrastructure is built and where the shut offs are, we may have to shutdown larger areas to de-energize the affected areas. Oh well...



This is exactly what I was thinking...


------------------
Eddie

Our Founding Fathers were men who understood that the right thing is not necessarily the written thing. -kkina
 
Posts: 6315 | Location: In transit | Registered: February 19, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Nullus Anxietas
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posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by selogic:
quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
quote:
Originally posted by corsair:
The easy solution is to bury the power lines, however my understanding is that, it costs 10x what it would take to string them overhead.

It's practical to bury residential and business neighbourhood distribution lines, as they run a mere 13.8KV. But the kind of lines that triggered that big fire run up to 400KV. I don't know as it would be practical to bury such lines.
Possible in theory , but expensive beyond comprehension .

Or, there's no doubt it's possible. But, with the amount of energy 400KV transmission lines carry: Probably not practical.

These lines, under load, carry so much energy that, if you were to time-lapse record them on calm days you'd see them move as the energy levels they carry go up and down. That's from the magnetic field each line generates interacting with its neighbouring lines. If you were to time-lapse record their infrared signature, you'd see them heat up, appreciably, under load. In fact: Here in the north country the power companies occasionally purposely unbalance the grid to create abnormal load and heating to melt accumulated ice.

The fields from these lines are so intense, over such a distance, that power thieves have been known to bury coils underground, on their property over which these lines run, to steal power. (They get caught, too, because the power companies note the deficit.)

The towers of these big transmission lines are as high as they are to limit loss due to ground effect.



"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
 
Posts: 26009 | Location: S.E. Michigan | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Go ahead punk, make my day
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LMFAO!!!!
 
Posts: 45798 | Registered: July 12, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Don't Panic
Picture of joel9507
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
quote:
Originally posted by selogic:
I don't know as it would be practical to bury such lines.
Possible in theory , but expensive beyond comprehension.

quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
there's no doubt it's possible.

Well, you guys might want go to Google Earth and look at the terrain the lines go through, before you make that call.

I lived 20+ years in California and I can save you some trouble there; California is not all flat sandy beaches. The Sierras are major mountains. You are not going to bury major high tension power lines that go through/across/along the Sierras. Not theoretically possible, let alone practical. Wink

There are some flatter/less timbered areas covered by the outages, and perhaps some burying might make sense there, but the Sierras are perfect homes for tall trees. Long paths in the mountains would need to be frequently and proactively maintained to keep the lines safe.
 
Posts: 15027 | Location: North Carolina | Registered: October 15, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Jimineer:
quote:
Originally posted by corsair:
quote:
Originally posted by Jimineer:
quote:
Originally posted by M-11:
What could possibly go wrong...?


Portable generators started fires last time they did this, so I heard.

? Which fire?

The problem with generators is most people have no idea how to use them or, prioritize. Home Depot, Lowe's, Ace Hardware, WalMart, Costco.. they're all sold-out. If anything, plug-in your refrigerator. Some people have tried to jury-rig their gen to their outside circuit panel...yeah, disaster.


Recently (the last time PGE shut off power) there were 3 fires in Nevada County caused by generators according to a resident in that locale. I’m not saying they were major fires, but they all start small. I have no other info. This is from the Blancolirio YouTube channel, Juan Browne. He is a 777 first officer and Often reports on the fire potential and conditions of the forest management in wackyland, among other things.

I wouldn't get too fixated on generator usage other than the hilarity of unfamiliar users and their foibles with them. The entire state this time of year is very dry, doesn't take much to get ignition, the last handful of big ones were a menagerie of human causes:

The largest fire ever, was caused by a spark from a hammer strike.

The Carr fire which created a fire tornado up in Redding, was the result of a flat tire and it's rim generating sparks.

Aside from human stupidity, state laws regarding forest management is also to blame, as pointed out in this 2018 repot.
 
Posts: 14652 | Location: Wine Country | Registered: September 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Peace through
superior firepower
Picture of parabellum
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Whoever came up with this "solution" should be jailed for year in an unheated, uncooled cell. For starters.

This is one of the stupidest things I've seen in a long time. Don't tell me about the danger of fires. This is God-awful stupid. Any public officials who endorse this idiocy should be run out of office and jailed.
 
Posts: 107556 | Registered: January 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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The power lines I've seen were trimmed and cleared of trees with short grass and an access road underneath.

Does California have restrictive clearing regulations so they create a fire hazard?

The vast majority of California's problems are self inflicted.


____________________________________________________

The butcher with the sharpest knife has the warmest heart.
 
Posts: 13399 | Location: Bottom of Lake Washington | Registered: March 06, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by braillediver:
The power lines I've seen were trimmed and cleared of trees with short grass and an access road underneath.

Does California have restrictive clearing regulations so they create a fire hazard?

The vast majority of California's problems are self inflicted.


PGE neglected to do much of anything for decades. They paid dividends and executive bonuses instead of maintaining their infrastructure and trimming trees. They came through my neighborhood this year and cut back branches. It's the first time in the nearly 20 years I've lived in my house. Wind, drought, and this type of fire danger aren't new. Last fall wasn't the first time this has happened. PGE has utterly failed to meet its obligations.

https://www.kqed.org/news/1173...m5OYE5WskABqM8gkJFTU
 
Posts: 4278 | Location: Peoples Republic of Berkeley | Registered: June 12, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Peace through
superior firepower
Picture of parabellum
posted Hide Post
They want to deny basic utilities to a substantial portion of residents of that state because something might happen? Insanity. Jail these frauds. Jail them.
 
Posts: 107556 | Registered: January 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by braillediver:

The vast majority of California's problems are self inflicted.

PG&E is a public-private utility which is over seen by the CA Public Utilities Commission . All of whom are appointed by the governor...Gavin Newsome. Yet to read any press calling for the heads of the PUC or, the Gov as this mess is just as much their fault as it is the mismanagement of a public utility.

The long and short of it, this seems to be a way for PG&E to say, "See what's going to happen if we don't get this liability situation fixed up?" I hate to be cynical but, this is a mess that .gov created.
 
Posts: 14652 | Location: Wine Country | Registered: September 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Wife just texted the power is back. A 16 hr inconvenience for an easily avoided situation. And I got off easy. There are folks who lost power earlier and will be out longer.
 
Posts: 4278 | Location: Peoples Republic of Berkeley | Registered: June 12, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Power back-on for many Sierra communities, 25-hrs my parents estimated. Once again, the yearly wake-up call for those who aren't prepared to deal with some inconvenience and difficulty.

Back to the regularly scheduled programing: Blue Angels and Fleet Week this weekend
 
Posts: 14652 | Location: Wine Country | Registered: September 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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My mother and step father, in their mid eighties, live in St. Helena (north of Napa). After the power was cut, my 86 year old mother went into the ER. She remains hospitalized and is recovering. My step father went home to a house with no power. The power was just restored in St. Helena tonight. I think they were without power for about 28 hours or so.

The amazing thing is that I’d didn’t know they were affected by the power outage or, that my mother was in ER until I happened to text my step-father wondering if they were affected by the outage I was reading about on Google News (I live in Washington State). He texted back something along the lines that yes, they would be without power for the next few days and by the way, your mother went into the ER at 4am. WHAT???
 
Posts: 1447 | Location: Western WA | Registered: September 11, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Peace through
superior firepower
Picture of parabellum
posted Hide Post
Tar and feathers
 
Posts: 107556 | Registered: January 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Shorted to Atmosphere
Picture of Shifferbrains
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quote:
Originally posted by parabellum:
Tar and feathers


Then the gallows!!
 
Posts: 5198 | Location: Manteca, CA | Registered: May 30, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
semi-reformed sailor
Picture of MikeinNC
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What about those people who use a CPAP? What if someone dies, and their spouse sues the electric company?



"Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.” Robert A. Heinlein

“You may beat me, but you will never win.” sigmonkey-2020

“A single round of buckshot to the torso almost always results in an immediate change of behavior.” Chris Baker
 
Posts: 11275 | Location: Temple, Texas! | Registered: October 07, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Get my pies
outta the oven!

Picture of PASig
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California = Northern Venezuela


 
Posts: 33793 | Location: Pennsylvania | Registered: November 12, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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