The problem is the age of some of the transmission lines and their towers. I don't know if it's been definitively determined that the collapse of a transmission tower sparked the fire that leveled the town of Paradise, but I have read that PG&E was under orders to replace towers in that area that were deemed to be structurally deficient and that the deadline to make the replacement was years behind what they were required to do. PG&E has been pedaling off assets for years. They have sold of their generating plants ( except the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant). They have had gas transmission explosions (We have a home in Carmel, CA where they blew up a house a few blocks away while “relining “ their old gas piping system). That lawsuit cost them millions, including the necessity of completely repaving the streets they tore up instead of just patching over their ditch digging. They are a dysfunctional company, much like our government.
To be fair to PG&E, they were forced to sell or turn over many assets, by the PUC and lawsuits. Some of their most lucrative power generation plants (such as the Steam Geysers plant) were forced sales. At the same time, PG&E was forced to maintain infrastructure used by power generated by other companies. Turning off the power to avoid risk of further lawsuits makes sense.
You have a home in Carmel?
Can I stay there from time to time, to relax and catch up on much needed sleep?
/s(not really)