California utility proactively cuts power because of weather

Associated Press ^ | June 9, 2019

[Olog-hai]

Pacific Gas & Electric implemented a controversial practice of cutting power to selected portions of Northern California on Saturday to guard against wildfires as the weather turned very windy, dry and hot.

Electricity was turned off around 6 a.m. to 1,600 customers in parts Napa, Solano and Yolo counties. Just as that shutdown was called off, the utility warned 27,000 customers in Butte, Yuba, Nevada, El Dorado and Placer counties that their power would be cut from 9 p.m. through Sunday morning.

The end of the earlier shutdown was announced around 4 p.m., and the utility said power would be restored in those areas as soon as crews finished checking lines for any weather-related damage.

Conditions ripe for fire — winds, low humidity, dry vegetation and heat — were expected to last into Sunday. The National Weather Service office reported a 71 mph (114 kph) gust on one peak in the region. …

[glennaro]

I sent PG&E a note asking that with all the revenue and all the assets and all the talent they have why don’t they just fix their wires and towers instead of attempting to convince us that a Venezuela style utility service is the better way to go. (I have not yet received the courtesy of a response.)

[abigkahuna]

You got that brother....jeez...