Public Safety Power Shutoff 10/9/19

[lbpesq]

I agree, underground seems to be the safest solution.  But if they are going to replace poles, one would think they would put in taller poles.  As for wind, we've had some breeze this morning, but it's all still right now.  Our power will be cut off in 6 minutes ... or it won't!  Nobody knows and the PG&E site is still down.  What we really need is decentralized solar collection, and maybe some of those evil windmills!

Bill, tgo

[lbpesq]

Power is still on.  Thinking about Y2K and Al Capone’s vault.

Bill, tgo

[keith_h]

We have similar problems with above ground electrical grids out here as well. The issue is no one wants to pay for it. In NC it costs about $70/ft to install above ground and $750/ft to go underground. That being said new subdivisions do run underground utilities but they are still fed by above ground poles so all it takes is a good thunderstorm or hurricane to knock power out for large groups of homes. 

[StephenR]

Latest update of sorts I can find from PG&E...

Four Bay Area counties are included in the second phase of shut-offs, which was scheduled to start at noon and affect about 234,000 more customers. At 12:30 p.m., PG&E tweeted an update saying it would instead take place "later this afternoon and into early evening." The utility did not offer a more specific timeline, though Contra Costa County officials started sharing the news that shut-offs in their area were delayed to 8 p.m. Wednesday.

I read that cost is the main reason that they won't bury the power lines.
"As a 2017 San Francisco Chronicle story notes, it costs about $1.16 million per mile to install underground distribution lines. In cities, that number is much higher; work in San Jose cost $4.6 million per mile. Overhead lines cost about $448,800 per mile in comparison."

[hankster]

Hmm. I know whose house we’re all going to after the zombie apocalypse. Uninterruptible power supplies, no less!  Dude!

[sonicus]

 

[lbpesq]

After numerous deadlines came and went, our power finally went out a little before 11:00 (shortly after hearing a news report that power would go out at midnight).  I feel like our whole community is on a giant camping trip!  Sure glad I picked up a little generator.

Bill, tgo

[mica]

The rough part is now all the places with 4-way stops instead of traffic signals. Even if you're lucky enough to still have power, commuting and errands are a bit of a minefield, though last night around midnight there was NOBODY driving around Santa Rosa. We have been known to keep strange hours, but it was quite eerie to not see one other car in motion on the way way from work.

[StephenR]

Apparently power was shut off near where we live but not in our particular neighborhood. What a poorly run "test run" of their emergency system, though.

On the news last night they were showing a number of crashed cars in Napa from people failing to heed to the four-way full stop that you are supposed to make when confronted with a dead stop light.

[bigredbass]

Burying megawatt transmission lines is a bad idea.  I grew up in hurricane country, and if a bunch of us redneck Texans could figure out how to keep them up in the air in 100+ mph winds, I'd think PG+Egg on their Face could do it too.  Although this is really a lawyer problem, as an engineering problem, it's certainly do-able.  To me it's unconscionable that a so-called 'Public Utility' could violate the public trust in this way.

It's amazing that I don't live there but this bothers me as much as it does.  Probably it's one more case of 'the older I get, the less I understand this world anymore'.  Happens a lot . .  . . . . .

[sonicus]

All over Europe you will find such electric transmission  lines underground . It seems to work out OK  in the cold and snowy Scandinavian Climate .     When my parents came to America in the mid 1950s they were amazed that the Americans had most of the transmission lines over head on poles everywhere .    . " Why do they do that ? " they spoke !

[garyhead]

I’m a bit dumbfounded by all this. I’m in SoCal right now planning my visit to the Bay Area.  Probably best to just bypass the whole mess.  Get to the motel and find the power off?  It seems like the utility is punishing the ratepayers for the lawsuits from the fires.
Our local transit authority was called out a few years ago when a bond measure failed and they canceled many of the most-traveled bus routes to affect the most people while the mostly empty rural routes went unaffected.  PG&E needs a serious brooming.


Next they will announce the logic of throwing the baby out with the bath water....

[lbpesq]

Friday morning and our power is still off.  To add insult to injury, Xfinity (wifi, TV, and phone) has been down for the last 24 hours, too.   I have limited SLOW internet access through my phone.  Glad we never sold off our DVD collection - watched a bunch of old movies and Twilight Zones yesterday.  Three cheers for the generator!

Bill, tgo

[lbpesq]

Power is back!  Heat!  Yea!

Bill, tgo

[edwardofhuncote]

Never thought to ask Bill, but you do have an acoustic guitar or two around to play, yes?