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The numbers you've quoted, from page 7, are per MW mile, not per mile.
Thanks, that was a really quick check. And yeah, that would increase the costs markedly. (My initial thought on posting was that $30 billion would not be enough, though the first read of actual per-mile costs, neglecting per MW-mile, seemed to suggest otherwise.)
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You'll say that until the company is full of public service workers who dont care and electricity costs 3x as much. Pretty much every developed country has privatized electricity generation to keep prices down.
This isn't accurate. In the Bay Area some cities have decided to run their own public utilities instead of relying on PG&E. For example, Santa Clara runs their own public utility[2]. The average resident pays about 10.4 cents per KWh. That's about 30 percent less than rates PG&E charges. Also, their energy is greener and their infrastructure is better maintained. The problem with for profit utilities is that they are…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The numbers you've quoted, from page 7, are per MW mile, not per mile.
Thanks, that was a really quick check. And yeah, that would increase the costs markedly. (My initial thought on posting was that $30 billion would not be enough, though the first read of actual per-mile costs, neglecting per MW-mile, seemed to suggest otherwise.)
PG&E is the worst power company in the western hemisphere. First in 2000 they had massive power outages due to early deregulation which led to the impeachment of governor Gray Davis. In 2017 the company killed thousands of customers and billions in property because of fires they caused! Now in 2019 they are doing massive shutdowns and directly killing their customers on life support! We have the highest prices (.22c…
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Many aspects of PG&E should bring to mind developing countries: corruption, graft, incompetent management, etc. It's an embarrassing situation to be in, and both PG&E and the state government are culpable.
So it's the state's fault that PG&E is corrupt? Please.
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My money is they get taken over by the state. Privatizing a utility was always a stupid move to begin with and they are finally proving it beyond any reasonable doubt. It's time we get to fixing all the damage Regan did to this country.
Private utilites work just fine in every other state. Maybe this just a California being California issue again. No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrimack_Valley_gas_explosion...
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They didn't wind-up liable because arcing electricity just happens to sometimes 'cause fire. They wound-up liable because they gutted their tree-trimming operations and paid the difference in dividends. That is something that definitely makes you liable regardless of whether the original thing is an acceptable risk. Now, it's hard to if this is indeed a "bail us out or we'll shut down at every strong breeze" statemen…
The Camp Fire, which is the one that looks likely to bankrupt them, probably wasn't even caused by inadequate tree trimming. Apparently one of their power lines had a weak, defective fixing which failed due to the same high winds that caused the fire to spread so rapidly and uncontrollably.
Edit: Note, the Camp Fire has bankrupted them. They are bankrupt, in bankruptcy proceedings. They are also on criminal (not civil) probation. None of this stopped their stock from rising after the recent events - where a more naive me might expect their stock holders' money would be forfeit once they reached the level of bankruptcy (unsecured debtors and all).
PG&E is the worst power company in the western hemisphere. First in 2000 they had massive power outages due to early deregulation which led to the impeachment of governor Gray Davis. In 2017 the company killed thousands of customers and billions in property because of fires they caused! Now in 2019 they are doing massive shutdowns and directly killing their customers on life support! We have the highest prices (.22c…
PG&E is a terrible company, but spewing a bunch of nonsense hyperbole isn't helpful. Someone else pointed out that your statements about deaths are false. So I'll point out that California's electricity isn't 22¢/kWh. The California average is 16.06¢. https://www.eia.gov/electricity/state/ States that have it worse: Hawaii: 26.05¢ Alaska: 19.10¢ Connecticut: 17.55¢ Massachusetts: 17.12¢ Rhode Island: 16.42¢ New Hamps…
PG&E doesn't serve all of California. While we're being pedantic, PG&E's (non-low-income) rates are generally closer to $0.20-$0.30 per kWh. Their rates are a bit too complex to easily summarize but during peak hours you are pretty much guaranteed to be paying more than $0.20/kWh (and in many cases above $0.25/kWh). Off-peak rates are all above $0.12/kWh, generally more than $0.16/kWh.
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Private utilites work just fine in every other state. Maybe this just a California being California issue again. No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater...
> Maybe this just a California being California issue again. California is a high fire risk state regardless of whether the utility is publicly owned or investor (aka privately) owned. The risk is on a level that doesn't occur in many other states. If the costs of fires are going to be socialized anyways (by immunizing utility from the liability, hence putting the burden on the ratepayers), the question of whether th…