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To those in NorCal about to lose power for days, stay safe Login/Join 
Get Off My Lawn
Picture of oddball
posted Hide Post
If more urban areas such as Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond, etc are part of the scheduled blackouts, I would imagine an uptick in crime will result. I imagine LE will be swamped with all kinds of shit. No traffic lights, water systems compromised, alarm systems inactive, etc.




"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: 16613 | Location: Texas | Registered: May 13, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Purveyor of
Fine Avatars
Picture of Orguss
posted Hide Post
They kept repeating that Sonoma County would be the first to be cut off, yet I had power all night and am at work with full power. Some co-workers did lose power, though.



"I'm yet another resource-consuming kid in an overpopulated planet raised to an alarming extent by Hollywood and Madison Avenue, poised with my cynical and alienated peers to take over the world when you're old and weak!" - Calvin, "Calvin & Hobbes"
 
Posts: 18018 | Location: Sonoma County, CA | Registered: April 09, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Crusty old
curmudgeon
Picture of Jimbo54
posted Hide Post
We woke up to heavy wet snow that has caused wide spread power outages in the area. Tree limbs and power lines down everywhere. We're fine for now and still have power. Nobody will be suing Avista Power over this I can guarantee.

Jim


________________________

"If you can't be a good example, then you'll have to be a horrible warning" -Catherine Aird
 
Posts: 9791 | Location: The right side of Washington State | Registered: September 14, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of konata88
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Question I have:

1) Has the state and PGE exhausted all reasonable options in prevention? Detection? Extinguishing?

2) Are these policies to protect homes? Or is it really about mitigating liability? What happens if through all these actions, there is still a devastating fire? What then? What's their liability? What further actions would they take?

3) Are the power outage affecting areas where there has been historically no issues with what they say they're trying to prevent?

4) Is this really the long term plan? Is our infrastructure and support so weak that we need to turn off power like some third world country every time the wind blows?

5) Fires can / do happen naturally. These actions do nothing to prevent that and yet they have common implications. What should be done?

6) Millions of people affected by these kinds of things. I'm sure there are critical things that are health related, especially for the elderly. But also other things like small businesses, education, events like theater tickets. Lost food in commercial and private refrigerators. Who's paying for all this? What are really preventing? What's the real risk? What's different now than 10 years ago?

I have so many honest questions.




"Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it." L.Tolstoy
"A government is just a body of people, usually, notably, ungoverned." Shepherd Book
 
Posts: 12683 | Location: In the gilded cage | Registered: December 09, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Thank you
Very little
Picture of HRK
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I thought all those Cali Homes were supposed to be off the grid and solar powered so it shouldn't matter..... Big Grin



 
Posts: 23244 | Location: Florida | Registered: November 07, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Only dead fish
go with the flow
Picture of pessimist
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quote:
Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
Maybe people should have been more thoughtful about suing PG&E about fires.

As I recall, part of the law suits complained, and loudly, about how PG&E DIDN'T shut off power under these forecasted conditions.

Reaping what you sew. Wink


+1

I guess everyone forgot about this. The State raked them over the coals and is trying to hold them accountable financially (extort) for the previous wild fires.

Well, it seems like they received your message loud and clear. Enjoy all your future planned blackouts Smile
 
Posts: 1517 | Registered: March 25, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Idiot by birth,
Asshole by choice
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by kkina:
Shutdowns are already happening, supposed to be more after midnight. So far safe. Think I'll go check my Surefires.

Supposedly this is due to imminent high winds. Dead calm right at the moment. Never heard of an outage like this before.

What are the hiding ?
 
Posts: 3100 | Location: Georgia... 45 Minutes from everywhere....... | Registered: July 05, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by konata88:
Question I have:

1) Has the state and PGE exhausted all reasonable options in prevention? Detection? Extinguishing?

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.
The other issue is CA lawmakers have made liability so onerous that if there is a small risk of a fire, PG&E now is forced to shut off all its power in the area. California has created a situation where no amount of risk is manageable. Secondarily, 'concerned enviro citizens' have brought all sorts of halts and attention to NOT cutting trees where PG&E is TRYING to mitigate their risk:
Sierra Club thinking there going to be too much cutting

Cute affluent suburbia town, this happened right before the disastrous wine country fires.

PG&E is damned if they do, and damned if they don't
quote:
2) Are these policies to protect homes? Or is it really about mitigating liability? What happens if through all these actions, there is still a devastating fire? What then? What's their liability? What further actions would they take?

You need the forest/wildfire rider on your insurance policy....good lucky finding a carrier or, one that's reasonable. Pretty much everyone living between any trees in CA had their fire policies cut-off as insurance decided nope, not going there.

quote:
3) Are the power outage affecting areas where there has been historically no issues with what they say they're trying to prevent?

Its the new normal. Before last year we had 6-years of drought conditions, some years, there was hardly any snow or, rain, the small local ski areas didn't even open. The region normaly doesn't get a drop of rain for the 6-months of Summer & Fall, what's changed is the population has increased substantially over the last 30-years, particularly around various semi-rural communities. During this time, the bark beetle has devastated douglas fir and various other pine stands in the Sierras, resulting in a green landscape that is pockmarked with dead-brown trees. Basically standing bonfires.

quote:
4) Is this really the long term plan? Is our infrastructure and support so weak that we need to turn off power like some third world country every time the wind blows?

My understanding is the utility companies can surgically isolate certain areas that are at risk, or, just wipe-out whole areas, eliminating any risk. See above about burying power lines. Not a electrician, my understanding that de-energizing an area has to be done in a methodical and progressive way least you blow the circuitry. Electricians can give better perspective.

quote:
5) Fires can / do happen naturally. These actions do nothing to prevent that and yet they have common implications. What should be done?

Move, break-up PG&E into manageable areas, bury power lines, restrict residential development in rural areas, higher penalties for homeowners who don't manage defensible space on their property in rural areas, require state forest service to manage underbrush and mountain misery growth.
 
Posts: 14573 | Location: Wine Country | Registered: September 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Last one out of California, turn off the lights.
Wait.... Never mind!


End of Earth: 2 Miles
Upper Peninsula: 4 Miles
 
Posts: 16005 | Location: Marquette MI | Registered: July 08, 2014Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Conservative in Nor Cal constantly swimming
up stream
Picture of PR64
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I was fine. No power outage.

This was going to be a good test of my solar power and my power wall backup battery. I did not need it so far.

For those of you not familiar with the California hills etc. This is the exact type of weather (wind) that drives these devastating fires over the years. It hasn't rained here yet and the fuel of the grass on all the hills is dry as hell and perfect for major fires.


-----------------------------------
Get your guns b4 the Dems take them away
Sig P-229
Sig P-220 Combat
 
Posts: 3458 | Location: Nor Cal | Registered: January 25, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Nullus Anxietas
Picture of ensigmatic
posted Hide Post
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.



"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
Member
posted Hide Post
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.

Not an electrician so, my knowledge is based upon whatever pros I talk to. All I know is those lines need to go fairly deep, into a special conduit and everything maped out, least you have an issue like the gas-line puncture problem in San Bruno back in 2010...ironically done by PG&E.
 
Posts: 14573 | Location: Wine Country | Registered: September 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Prefontaine
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A good friend lives right in the middle of this, far away from most. He's close to or in the mountains at elevation. He started dropping curse words when I asked about this. And he rarely cusses. He just installed solar because he hates this company so much. He stated to me that they used to go around and trim all the trees around the power lines as they would cause fires and such during high winds. He said they quit doing that in his area 6-7 years ago. So with high winds coming, instead of tree trimming, and spending the money to do it properly the assholes are just turning power off. What a shit hole POS company.



What am I doing? I'm talking to an empty telephone
 
Posts: 12569 | Location: Down South | Registered: January 16, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Thank you
Very little
Picture of HRK
posted Hide Post
quote:
So with high winds coming, instead of tree trimming, and spending the money to do it properly the assholes are just turning power off. What a shit hole POS company.



Are they not doing it to save money, or because some eco green climate nazi sierra group is threatening them....



 
Posts: 23244 | Location: Florida | Registered: November 07, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
SIG's 'n Surefires
Picture of M-11
posted Hide Post
What could possibly go wrong...?



"Common sense is wisdom with its sleeves rolled up." -Kyle Farnsworth
"Freedom of Speech does not guarantee freedom from consequences." -Mike Rowe
"Democracies aren't overthrown, they're given away." -George Lucas
 
Posts: 6880 | Location: IL, due south of the Arch | Registered: April 20, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Lost
Picture of kkina
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Phase 2 happening between 12n and 1pm (starting 40 minutes from now).



ACCU-STRUT FOR MINI-14
"First, Eyes."
 
Posts: 16266 | Location: SF Bay Area | Registered: December 11, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
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 .
 
Posts: 3970 | Location: Down in Louisiana . | Registered: February 27, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Wait, what?
Picture of gearhounds
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by HRK:
I thought all those Cali Homes were supposed to be off the grid and solar powered so it shouldn't matter..... Big Grin

From the sound of things, some now are haha!




“Remember to get vaccinated or a vaccinated person might get sick from a virus they got vaccinated against because you’re not vaccinated.” - author unknown
 
Posts: 15501 | Location: Martinsburg WV | Registered: April 02, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Thank you
Very little
Picture of HRK
posted Hide Post
Spoke with a buddy who has a customer in NorCal, said it's a joke, there's no wind near his house, not even a breeze...

I can't blame the power company for taking precautions, who wants to be sued out of business.



 
Posts: 23244 | Location: Florida | Registered: November 07, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Prefontaine:
A good friend lives right in the middle of this, far away from most. He's close to or in the mountains at elevation. He started dropping curse words when I asked about this. And he rarely cusses. He just installed solar because he hates this company so much. He stated to me that they used to go around and trim all the trees around the power lines as they would cause fires and such during high winds. He said they quit doing that in his area 6-7 years ago. So with high winds coming, instead of tree trimming, and spending the money to do it properly the assholes are just turning power off. What a shit hole POS company.

My parents live at the snowline level in the Sierras, PG&E hired contractors to set-up appointments and work to trim back those affected vegetation. Very little communication, no rhyme or, reason to why certain properties had work done or, didn't. It's a poop show.
 
Posts: 14573 | Location: Wine Country | Registered: September 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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