Pacific Gas and Electric Co. began cutting electricity to nearly 2 million people in Northern California

In an unprecedented public safety shutoff event, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. began cutting electricity to nearly 2 million people in Northern California early Wednesday in an effort to save life and property amid critical fire weather warnings forecast across the state over the next 48 hours. PG&E warned customers in its vast electric service territory – stretching along the state’s spine from Redding to Bakersfield and from the suburbs of San Francisco Bay to the foothills above Sacramento – that the power may not return until Tuesday, perhaps longer. An army of linemen and engineers with a “prioritized” approach would need to inspect power lines on nearly every mile of wire after the predicted winds, called Diablos in the north and Santa Anas in the south, dissipate as early as Thursday. The historic decision to plunge 800,000 homes and businesses into isolation, the embattled utility said, was its “last resort” to ward off the threat of wildfires such as the Camp Fire, which tore through the foothills of Butte County, destroying the town of Paradise and killing 85 in the worst wildfire in California history. The fire was ignited by one of the company’s power lines in the very deadly scenario the publicly traded company is trying to prevent this time. The massive interruption was designed in the wake of a growing tally of wildfires that forced the utility into bankruptcy over an estimated $30 billion in potential damages from lawsuits...MORE

Another example of the costs of mismanaging our forests.

Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article235931812.html?utm_source=pushly&intcid=pushly_452073#storylink=cpy

Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article235931812.html?utm_source=pushly&The massive interruption was designed in the wake of a growing tally of wildfires that forced the utility into bankruptcy over an estimated $30 billion in potential damages from lawsuits.

Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article235931812.html?utm_source=pushly&intcid=pushly_452073#storylink=cpy

intcid=pushly_452073#storylink=cpy