...I posted a bit of this yesterday, but I can't find it now. Very interesting interplay between PG&E and State of California. What do you think?...........
SDG&E, despite causing fires and having the blame put squarely on their lousy maintenance, got the okey-dokey to bill customers for their lawsuit losses. I'm still paying for it.
...I retired from SDG&E. During the late 80's and mid 90's, the name of the game was downsizing. They sold off their interests in the Encina plant, Duke Energy bought SouthBay and was later demo'd, Silvergate was mothballed, and Station B was turned into condos, and finally, San Onofre was taken off line Much of the activity of the linemen and maintenance was farmed out, saving union benefit costs. Duke Energy, Sempra, bought out a lot of the SDG&E infrastructure. San Diego Co. is at risk due to the lack of power generation capabilities lost during this downsizing maneuver...mainly designed for preserving the stockholders share size, and allowing executives to exit with maximum profit share. If power goes down at Lake Mead/Hoover Dam, due to water level issues, it could get bad...............IMO.
It also looks like SoCal Ed is responsible for the Woolsey fire, like it was responsible for the Thomas fire last year. Gotta take care of the shareholders before wasting money on maintenance and safety. Until some CEO start doing hard prison time, nothing is going to change.
...all high-voltage utility lines need to be placed underground. A simple fix, this would be expensive, but usually a one-time cost. No reason to continue to use overhead transmission lines when these remedies are decades old, and have proven to be very reliable.
...as a creepy aside, a co-worker friend (also ex-SDG&E), had only minutes to gather his elderly parents and jet out of there. The two homes were totaled, He and parents are residing in a seedy motel in a safer area. He was a major grower for the regional dispensaries. All was lost. For those interested, expect higher prices for product in and around the Bay area.......
PG&E needs to hire better people, train them fully, and stop them from starting fires. The rates are already exorbitant.
One of their trees fell across our road and blocked us from leaving. A lady in high heels and a short skirt pranced about pointing and yelling for a couple of hours. Finally, a crew showed up to remove the tree, but she gave them bad instructions and insisted they leave before the job was done.
The men on the street gathered and finished the job for them so we could go and come as necessary.
My husband stood out in the cold holding a strong flashlight for them most of that night because they didn't remember to bring a light. For doing that good turn, we got a bill for removing their tree and had to get legal counsel to fight it. The lady in heels assumed that the tree was ours because DH was so helpful.
This is only one personal PG&E experience. We've suffered several.
The power companies are governed by the state's utility commission. Yes they will be sued and made to pay for the fires and the damage, but those are just part of the costs for doing business.
They will go to the utility commission and request a rate hike and it will be granted otherwise they go out of business.
Rate payers will pay for decades no matter what, it's just part of life.
In Washington state a few years ago, the power company wanted to do some brushing along the power lines, the adjacent homeowners went to court to stop them as the tree pruning would reduce their property values.
The pruning was stopped, the following winter the winds and snow came and the trees fell across the power lines and the adjoining houses were without power for several days.
Now the home owners sued for lost food and frozen pipes, etc., this time the courts said no, it was because of the lack of line maintenance that they had previously stopped.
The whole West and East and South coast would benefit from offshore wind towers to generate a lot of their power. With more than half the nation predicted to live within 50 miles of a sea coast by 2025, why not generate a lot of their power in the area?
Coastal wind is much more reliable than anywhere else in the US. So what if coastal types don't like wind towers spoiling their view? Those of us inland don't like them either - and we don't get the power generated - it is all sold Out of State where most of us live.
Shorter transmission lines, local jobs and reliable offshore winds in the area would be a big boost to the electric distribution grid in these areas.