Posted on 10/18/2019 4:42:30 PM PDT by karpov
PG&E Corp.’s chief executive said Friday that it could take as long as 10 years for the company to improve its electric system enough to significantly diminish the need to pull the plug on customers to reduce the risk of sparking fires.
Bill Johnson, who joined the company in May, made the disclosure at a California Public Utilities Commission hearing where the panel’s president, Marybel Batjer, sharply criticized the company’s “inadequate execution” of a shut-off in which it turned off power to large portions of Northern California for more than two days last week.
The commission convened an emergency meeting to examine PG&E’s handling of the massive blackout, which left roughly two million people in the dark and created widespread havoc from the Bay Area to the northern reaches of the state. Several of the company’s top executives were summoned to detail the problems and take questions from regulators.
“I can tell you that you guys failed on so many levels on fairly simple stuff,” Ms. Batjer said.
The agency earlier this week ordered PG&E to address numerous problems with its strategy for such blackouts, known as public safety power shut-offs. It condemned the company’s failure to provide maps and other critical information to residents and local officials ahead of the shut-off. PG&E’s website crashed for two days during the blackout, and its call centers were overwhelmed.
Mr. Johnson on Friday apologized for the hardships caused by the shut-off but defended the company’s decision to implement it, noting that none of its power lines sparked fires, even though strong winds in certain areas caused damage to its system.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Sht, I thought this stuff only happened in Iran or Venezuela.... oh, right, this is commifornia, but the racist globalists will blame it on America as a whole
Guess they need to put a couple more Gerbles on the wheel, or go nuke. Forest management is also a good idea.
Cost was a few billion in losses and some lives.
But PG&E execs will get their bonus money.
Some $10 million approved this past year.
In 10 yrs the new stuff will be Obsolete. People will move out even if they sell at a loss. Businesses will be the first to go. Hospitals/Medical will have to shut down.
How many patients on support of different variety’s had no electricity to run their support systems and Died? Gas generators won’t be allowed.
can the last person to leave Cali please turn the lights out?
Get thee to a generator store.
I see you are ignorant in all the things you post about.
Of course they would love immunity. The state won’t give it to them. So the state gets blackouts during Santa Anas. You want them to “improve their equipment”. They have to string lines across mountains and deserts in order to bring electricity to rural areas and isolated cabins. If they have to make them impervious to high winds, at all times, then they have to spend billions. Are you or the state regulators going to agree to their rate increases in order to pay for that???? Or might it make sense for the state to subsidize the provision of infrastructure for those areas if it wants them upgraded?
Those are the issues. But as long as they have to keep rates low, provide coverage over all terrain in a large territory, and have liability for fires started by high winds, then you are guaranteed that they will use blackouts as a preventive measure.
Stay stupid, my friend.
Speaking of stupid, you are obviously unaware that we already subsidize the electric utilities with the HIGHEST rates in the country. To describe the current rates as LIw just demonstrates your utter ignorance of California utility practices. The utility is at fault by failing to greet trim as required by law so fires start in winds. Duh. Regulators don’t need to raise rates to get them to do what they are already required to accomplish. Instead they paid exorbitant salaries and benefits, and shareholder profits. They are a public utility, not a for profit corporation. Learn the difference before you shoot your mouth off.
You obviously don’t believe in holding people or companies responsible for their actions and believe that we should give people a pass for their bad Choices. Are you sure you’re in the right site. Your philosophy is much more in line with the far left wing democrat philosophy. People aren’t responsible for their actions, society is. That is your idiotic position. The utilities aren’t responsible for their illegal conduct, the ratepayers are.
As far as ignorance goes, rocket scientist, I will put my doctorate up against yours any time. The boys at the manure plant may think they are brilliant but in fact they are not. You have no apparent reason to shout out your arrogance and pomposity.
Q: What did Californians use before candles?
A: Electricity.
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