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60,000 customer power outage in Northern California
brianlux
Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,674
PG&E, the power company for all of Northern California randomly shut off power to 60,000 customers across 12 counties yesterday and today due to "high fire danger". What's interesting to me is that though it has been dry out here in the west and a dry October is nothing new, that month seems to be a little drier each year. The major reason for the outage was said to be due to high winds. As it turns out, we were off the last two days and were out and about during that time covering a fair portion of El Dorado County, one the hardest hit by the outages, and live we live in that county. In all of the ground we covered and over all of the last two days, I never saw anything more than a light breeze. And like I said, the outages, which were intentional, were very random, often affecting one side of a street and not the other. I have to wonder if the bureaucracy covering these things is running on all cylinders?
Personally, I think PG&E was being overly cautious. A little part of me wonders if this was run as a social experiment (local Sheriff's Dept. is encouraging people to write in and comment on how all this has affected them). But more than a red flag theory, I think it is further indication of something gone very awry in the west, i.e. climate change, over-population, inadequate infrastructure maintenance, a confused bureaucratic system and... what else? I wonder.
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.
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Much of the destruction took place on the sides of the streets most affected by wind, so I can see how random outages might alleviate some of the risk (live wires. etc., not to mention personal loss).
Maybe it's different in a large metropolis vs. smaller or more rural areas, I'm not sure. Our planned outages (brown-outs) are mostly for heatwaves, and I don't recall one going into place in ages.
Social experiment? I wouldn't go that far, though there is something certainly to be learned from its outcome(s).
Odd question...
If the former, nope. it appeared PG&E took care of that.