On 12/26/19 6:38 PM, Fred Baker wrote:
This time it’s PG&E all alone, but still fallout from back then. Too
much liability and they’ve not maintained the infrastructure and so
they decided that to reduce the liability costs it’s cheaper to
blackout. Same story again different colors. PG&E making a mint while
people get screwed (PG&E was mostly at the getting screwed end in
2000-2001)
PG&E has been the one in the news, but SCE appears to have been making
the same choices with about the same effects. The Thomas Fire was
briefly the largest wildfire in state history, and the source (well,
with the rain) of the Montecito mud flow a few weeks later. We're told
that SCE seems to figure in that one and several others before and since.
I go back and forth on who might be responsible. The electric
utilities bear blame for their infrastructure; it should be
underground, not strung from poles. I would put some to the state and
the management of the various national forests and national parks in
the area - one of the outcomes from a fire in 2007 or thereabouts was
that the ecology folks had been protecting foliage, and that foliage
burned and clogged streams, with all sorts of results. Surprise! If
you're worried about ecology, you should support management of it. In
California, there are also laws holding home-owners responsible for
"defensible space" around their homes.
When I lived in Socal, we certainly had hellacious brush fires when the
Santa Ana winds blew. I don't remember any/many of them being attributed
SCE though? Maybe I just wasn't paying attention? Do remember anything
about that, Fred? We've forever had an urban-wildland interface problem
-- I mean, how many times has Malibu burned down, it seemed like every
other year.
Apparently San Diego Gas and Electric has been something of a pioneer
after the horrible Cedar fire, and apparently it's made a difference.
Mike
