California Burning

The stupidity is that CA wants to be at the front of fighting climate change while refusing to prevent forest fires by allowing logging.

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…or even allowing dirt roads into forest so fires can be accessed. Or controlled burns. Or making it easy for property owners to clear fuel load on their own properties.

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Unfortunate that California won’t enact these common sense measures. California does best when we have pragmatic leaders. There’s been too little of it.

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If there’s enough fuel something will eventually ignite it. Blaming a PG&E line for it is just silly. Lines go down all the time here in AZ. Our monsoon season is something CA doesn’t even have to deal with. But we take measures to reduce fuel load in places where wildfires would threaten towns and we have access roads into wildlands so fires can be reached and don’t have to be fought just from the air.
The PG&E blame game is nothing more than deflection by government officials who have failed to act responsibly and protect the public.

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they should just not offer electricity to these remote and wooded parts of CA. or charge extra for putting in MG and remove liability.

Rural areas are charged higher rates here because it’s more work and far fewer ratepayers are served. Liability is less of an issue. Anyone trying to argue that an overgrown forest would never have burned if a downed line hadn’t started a fire would be laughed out of court.

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I think that is what is going to happen in CA.

its not fair to spread these rural costs over urban/suburban areas like the Bay Area. rates have gone up in 2022, even from last year! at some point, either the rural people pay up or they don’t get electricty or they form coops/install MGs.

Typical “Intellectual Response” expected of California line of thinking. Blame others, and obfuscate the solution with unrelated items. Anything with common sense is no no. A logical approach would be to include resolution of most likely and most impacting factors first.
The California forests and woods should not become sitting fire bombs waiting to be lit.

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La Honda is building an MG. The power has become too unreliable to depend on PG&E. I think they will force this elsewhere. Put up shut offs that cut power every time the wind blows (liability, you know) so rural dwellers have no choice but to build MG’s.
erth has a valid point but this is CA we’re talking about. Logic and reason bolted the barn long ago.

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if PG&E is going to be held liable EVERY time any of their equipment causes a fire, they are justified in turning off the power when the wind blows even a bit. Utility investment time frames are 10-30 years, and most equipment was installed when the extreme dryness we face in CA wasn’t an issue. PG&E needs to get into the business of installing MGs (I think they are)

SDGE has not caused a utility fire in years. It started in the early 2000s when they caused a big fire in San Diego county. Since then they have been tree trimming and replacing wood poles poles with metal ones and doing other proactive measures. We have much greater winds in this area then you do (santa Ana winds). PGE is at fault.

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Wooden poles have been in use since the early days of PGE. Why it become an issue all of the sudden?
Inadept workman blaming the tools?

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Is it even possible to get off PG&E? I heard recently that PG&E wanted to start charging people with solar for not using the electricity. PG&E is like the mafia.

As for the overgrown forest - very easy question - could PG&E have trimmed back the forest around the lines? If yes, PG&E’s fault. If no - if there are laws against it, then it’s the gov’ts fault.

My friend works for Southern California Edison and we were cycling through the Santa Cruz mountains, he noted that the PG&E poles are using a more flammable wood than what they used in LA.

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There are not too many trees that can be used for electric poles. They are all same. I do not know what your friend saw.

Here on the Mogollon Rim all the poles are wood. Doesn’t seem to be a problem.
PG&E has been sued in the past by environmental groups over tree trimming. In some cases they ended up with overseers telling them what trees they could and couldn’t cut.

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Pacific Graft and Extortion. Pioneer is taking over PGE customers in Eldorado County. But even Liberty in Tahoe is planning on raising prices 40%. I blame the greenies causing a panic over global warming. Utilities are caught in the middle. Nuclear or natural gas will still be needed to support solar wind and hydro

Environmentalists are a big threat to economy, second only to FED.

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