Pacific Gas & Electric planned shutdown today

[kdonnel]

They've had money specifically collected from customers for preventative maintenance and diverted it for executive bonuses and to boost profits. That was cited in the investigation of the San Bruno gas pipeline explosion. Our bills have specific surcharges to go to specific safety/maintenance accounts.

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/PG-E-diverted-safety-money-for-profit-bonuses-2500175.php

That is how things generally work.

There are thousands of examples of fees and/or taxes that say they are ear marked for a particular goal but in actuality go into a general fund and get spent elsewhere.

At this point there is no recouping the years worth of money that was misspent. It must now be collected again, more since costs have risen, and the subscribers pay.

It is laughable to fine a company. You can't fine a company, you only fine the purchasers of the companies product because all fines will be passed on to the consumer.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

My SIL has been evacuated from her home near Santa Rosa, and my FIL is without power in Santa Cruz. We invited both to come stay with us, but they both declined in favor of plans closer to their respective homes.
We're fed up with PG&E. I really wish there were an alternative.

 

[RamblingMad]

My SIL has been evacuated from her home near Santa Rosa, and my FIL is without power in Santa Cruz. We invited both to come stay with us, but they both declined in favor of plans closer to their respective homes.
We're fed up with PG&E. I really wish there were an alternative.

This is the problem with capitalism when no alternatives exist.

 

[kdonnel]

This is the problem with capitalism when no alternatives exist.

There is no capitalism where utilities are concerned. They are all tightly controlled government regulated monopolies.

Occasionally deregulated energy markets are created but even in those the prior monopoly utility retains ownership of the infrastructure and a for profit middle man is inserted to create "competition" to sell the electricity or gas or water, etc..

 

[bcla]

This is the problem with capitalism when no alternatives exist.

I lived in a city with municipal power but where PG&E provided gas. Our neighborhood was developed in the 70s with underground power lines. They had their own issues, including once losing power when it rained.

Several cities have tried to buy power lines, including San Jose. PG&E said they're not for sale, but if it comes down to it they could always use eminent domain.

 

[bcla]

There is no capitalism where utilities are concerned. They are all tightly controlled government regulated monopolies.

Occasionally deregulated energy markets are created but even in those the prior monopoly utility retains ownership of the infrastructure and a for profit middle man is inserted to create "competition" to sell the electricity or gas or water, etc..

To some degree that's true, but things slip through the cracks. I mentioned the San Bruno pipeline explosion, where audits determined that PG&E kept profits in excess of their regulated number and didn't apply money from maintenance-related surcharges. Occasionally I'll see a rebate on my bill, and I understand that comes from an return of excess profits.

However, there are specific municipally owned utilities where the municipality owns the entire infrastructure, although often they have to share lines with the regulated utility. Sacramento Municipal Utility District is probably the largest in Northern California, although other cities own their own systems. Most of water utilities in my area are nonprofit quasi-public systems.

 

[bcla]

Well - right now I'm at one of PG&E's designated "community resource centers" where they've got power, snacks, and are handing out emergency supplies like flashlights/batteries and even charging cables. The nicest item they have is a USB power pack. I have enough fully-charged rechargeable batteries to power my flashlights for a few nights.

I'm thinking my freezer contents should be fine as long as I don't open it too much when I get home.

 

[disneychrista]

And now there is another starting tomorrow at 4:30 am. We will be lucky to get power for a few hours if at all before they shut if back off for another two day. I’m over it already.

 

[bcla]

And now there is another starting tomorrow at 4:30 am. We will be lucky to get power for a few hours if at all before they shut if back off for another two day. I’m over it already.

We apparently got our power back on this afternoon, but I’m signed up for text messages and emails. I’m getting a specific warning that it might get shut down again tomorrow and to use any time to charge up devices/batteries.

 

[usnuzuloose]

We had a lot of questions today from viewers asking why their power was being cut if it wasn't very windy in their area. Usually that is because somewhere along the route that the power comes from to your house is windy.

Where I am which is the Natomas side we always have power outages, I am so tired of them...….

 

[usnuzuloose]

We apparently got our power back on this afternoon, but I’m signed up for text messages and emails. I’m getting a specific warning that it might get shut down again tomorrow and to use any time to charge up devices/batteries.

The poweroutage yesterday was suppose to be about 4 hours but it came back in less than an hour. I am sick of so many outages here

 

[bcla]

The poweroutage yesterday was suppose to be about 4 hours but it came back in less than an hour. I am sick of so many outages here

I managed to get a bit of schwag from PG&E at their resource stations. I saw a few people who just came in and out just to score some supplies. They weren’t asking for proof that anyone was an affected customer. Each one has snacks, water, and coffee.

 

[disneychrista]

We apparently got our power back on this afternoon, but I’m signed up for text messages and emails. I’m getting a specific warning that it might get shut down again tomorrow and to use any time to charge up devices/batteries.

Lucky you. We never got it back and now likely won’t until late Thursday/Friday. A second event (outage) is to start at 4:30am tomorrow through Wednesday/Thursday.

My fridge/freezer food is trash now. What a waste. I’m hoping my home owners policy will cover the loss.

 

[bcla]

Lucky you. We never got it back and now likely won’t until late Thursday/Friday. A second event (outage) is to start at 4:30am tomorrow through Wednesday/Thursday.

My fridge/freezer food is trash now. What a waste. I’m hoping my home owners policy will cover the loss.

Our freezer stayed cold enough, except maybe for a bag of raw (de-headed) shrimp that partially thawed and is now a solid block. But at the least I don't think the freezer ever exceeded any safe temperature for storing meat.

This was the message I got (which came before our power was restored):

PG&E Safety Update: Potential of another PSPS event Tuesday 10/29. We'll make every effort to restore power between events. Please use that opportunity to charge any essential equipment. More info: pge.com/pspsupdates​

 

[barkley]

My fridge/freezer food is trash now. What a waste. I’m hoping my home owners policy will cover the loss.

don't count on it. even if it were worth it after your deductible most policies won't cover loss due to power outage. we've had 2 instances of over week long weather related power losses at our current home and we learned after the first that no one's homeowner's covered it (after the first we got a generator so we didn't lose anything on the second).

i suspect more californians will be looking at investing in automatic generator backup systems for their homes.

 

[VandVsmama]

The whole situation is a huge mess. I know someone who flew out of SFO early this morning. That person said that it was freaky seeing literally the entire SF Bay Area (except for SF itself) totally dark and without power. California is a mess right now. The richest state in the entire country and it basically has a power system akin to that of a 3rd world country.

 

[bcla]

The whole situation is a huge mess. I know someone who flew out of SFO early this morning. That person said that it was freaky seeing literally the entire SF Bay Area (except for SF itself) totally dark and without power. California is a mess right now. The richest state in the entire country and it basically has a power system akin to that of a 3rd world country.

Depends on where. I could drive 3 blocks away and I could see more than just flashlights. I live up in the hills, and it was easy to find a restaurant with power.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The whole situation is a huge mess. I know someone who flew out of SFO early this morning. That person said that it was freaky seeing literally the entire SF Bay Area (except for SF itself) totally dark and without power. California is a mess right now. The richest state in the entire country and it basically has a power system akin to that of a 3rd world country.

Greed will do awful things to ya

 

[tvguy]

Where I am which is the Natomas side we always have power outages, I am so tired of them...….

That's SMUD though. Not sure we can ever prevent all power outages.

 

[disneychrista]

don't count on it. even if it were worth it after your deductible most policies won't cover loss due to power outage.

I did a quick look last night and AAA said they covered it but not for “widespread” outages which this would be.

I didn’t even think about it at all but a friar d mentioned that “all policys” paid a flat $400 for food loss. I’ll call on Friday or whenever we get power back.