Thursday, January 24, 2019
Even demons can be right
I hate to admit the rare instances when a black-robed demon is right. Nevertheless, he's right for once. (Later checking: this demon has actually been on the right side more than once!)
Cutting trees that can fall into the lines is pure common sense. Shutting off power at the right time is also common sense. Both are VASTLY cheaper than losing the entire system and losing payments from customers.
Avista did nothing after the 1991 firestorm. They did some cutting after the 1996 icestorm, which improved the situation for the next few windstorms. Then they dropped back to normal neglect, resulting in the LONG outage in 2015. After that they finally got on the ball. Rebuilding your entire system tends to focus your attention for a while. Since 2015 no major fires or outages.
PGE clearly didn't reach "on the ball" status yet.
¶ 11:49 AM
I hate to admit the rare instances when a black-robed demon is right. Nevertheless, he's right for once. (Later checking: this demon has actually been on the right side more than once!)
PG&E said it’s committed to system upgrades and wildfire prevention but contended that a criminal case being handled by U.S. District Judge William Alsup was not the right forum to address such measures.
Earlier this month, Alsup proposed ordering PG&E to remove or trim all trees that could fall onto its power lines, poles or equipment in high-wind conditions and to document its inspections and work.
He also proposed ordering PG&E to reinspect its entire electric grid and to cut off power during certain wind conditions regardless of the inconvenience to customers or loss of profit.
Cutting trees that can fall into the lines is pure common sense. Shutting off power at the right time is also common sense. Both are VASTLY cheaper than losing the entire system and losing payments from customers.
Avista did nothing after the 1991 firestorm. They did some cutting after the 1996 icestorm, which improved the situation for the next few windstorms. Then they dropped back to normal neglect, resulting in the LONG outage in 2015. After that they finally got on the ball. Rebuilding your entire system tends to focus your attention for a while. Since 2015 no major fires or outages.
PGE clearly didn't reach "on the ball" status yet.
¶ 11:49 AM
