800,000 Californians To Lose Power After Midnight

https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/800000-californians-lose-power-after-midnight

800,000 Californians To Lose Power After Midnight

by Tyler Durden
Tue, 10/08/2019 - 20:25

For millions of liberal Californians, especially those living in the immediate proximity of Berkeley, socialism is always and only the answer. And while we doubt they would voluntarily move to Venezuela to personally experience the fruits such a regime brings, especially in its final stages, nearly 1 million Californians are about to enjoy one of the biggest benefits of living in a socialist regime: lack of electricity.

Nearly 800,000 customers of bankrupt utility PG&E will lose power starting just after midnight as the embattled utility launches a (long-overdue) effort yet to avoid starting a wildfire in extremely dry and windy weather.

On Tuesday, PG&E said that it will proceed with the massive outages it has been considering this week, and adding 200,000 additional customers into the mix. Shutoffs will take place in every county in the Bay Area except San Francisco and will also occur in some of the far northern and southern corners of PG&E’s service area, reaching 34 counties, which means that San Franciscans will still be able to see when they are about to walk into human shit on the street.

Late Monday, PG&E released estimates of how many customers in each county the shut-offs could affect. The estimates included 32,613 customers in Alameda; 40,219 in Contra Costa; 32,124 in Napa; 38,123 in Santa Clara; 14,766 in San Mateo; 32,862 in Solano; and 66,289 in Sonoma. Updated figures weren’t available with Tuesday’s update that Marin would be included. A single customer account might be a residence or business with multiple people, so the number of people who lose power might reach in the millions.



Source: PGE.com

The communities who will be affected by the outages has grown since PG&E’s initial estimate on Monday, with portions of Marin, Humboldt, Trinity, Santa Barbara and Kern counties now added to the list. PG&E said communities as will lose power at different times “depending on local timing of the severe wind conditions,” starting in the north.

The shutoffs are intended to prevent PG&E equipment from starting the kind of wildfires they were responsible in October 2017, when the company’s power lines started a series of fires in the North Bay, and last year, when they ignited the historically deadly and destructive Camp Fire in Butte County. PG&E has had the program in place for more than a year but has never used it on as wide a scale as it intends to do Wednesday.

Alameda County officials issued an advisory Tuesday morning that PG&E is expected to disconnect power to more than 35,000 residences and businesses for up to five days starting early Wednesday.

The utility’s updated list of Bay Area communities that could be affected include parts of San Jose, Oakland, Berkeley, Hayward, Richmond, El Cerrito, Pinole, Walnut Creek, Calistoga, American Canyon, Half Moon Bay and other coastal communities, San Jose, Gilroy, Vallejo and Petaluma.

PG&E has been warning customers by email, text messages and automated phone calls. Customers are urged to update their contact information online if they haven’t done so already. PG&E has also made it possible for people who aren’t direct utility customers to get alerts about a particular location — for example, an office or a school, or an apartment building where the landlord pays the utilities.

Around the Bay Area, emergency services offices and PG&E blasted out email and text alerts, automated phone calls and news releases urging Bay Area residents to take the potential power shut-downs seriously and make preparations.

“We encourage you to find alternative energy sources for light, charging devices and other necessities,” Alameda County officials said doing their best interpretation of what Venezuelans hear every day. "Plan ahead with food and water, and make sure your grab-and-go emergency kits are ready."

At the Oakland Zoo, the staff was busy Tuesday setting up setting up generators and heading out to buy more in preparation for an outage. The zoo will close to the public if it loses power, but concern about revenue loss takes a backseat to zoo administrator’s main priority — animal safety.

“We have some generators at the zoo, but we certainly need more,” said Nik Dehejia, the zoo’s chief financial officer. “If it’s a day or two, we’re okay. If it goes well beyond that, we’re going to be looking for help and see what we need to do.”

The zoo has three endangered species of frogs and toads, which require temperature-controlled habitats, that zoo-keepers are working to rehabilitate in the wild. “It would be devastating if those frog and toad species are lost,” Dehejia said. “We’re going to do everything we can to make sure that they receive the temperature regulation that they need.”

While people hit stores to stock up on batteries, coolers, ice and canned foods, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf joined the call to be prepared but criticized PG&E for potentially cutting power for as many as five days.

“This is the type of interruption to our lives that should not happen,” she said.

“This type of interruption is not acceptable. We are going to do it because we believe it is in the interest of the safety of the people, but we have got to do better.”

National Weather Service forecasters have issued red flag warnings for the East Bay and North Bay hills, as well as the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Cool, dry winds are expected to increase 20 to 30 mph with gusts between 45 mph and 55 mph in the North Bay and East Bay hills — and even higher on North Bay peaks like Mount Saint Helena.

Preparing for the winds, PG&E previously issued a power shut-off watch for 257,000 customers in parts of seven Bay Area counties.

PG&E officials say the outages could last for days after the winds stop because lines need to be inspected before they can be re-energized.

 

This should be interesting.

 

I am in favor of cutting off all electricity that is provided to California by other states permanently , until such time they decide to follow U.S. laws and quit sheltering and hiding illegal invaders of the U.S. . Those nasty oil products should also not be allowed to enter California . By cutting off all the gasoline and diesel they can help the environment so they should be very happy .

 

I am really not sure Keith what to make of your question . In case your question is serious I will give a serious answer . The U.S. is being invaded by the thousands , coming from countries with collapsing or collapsed economies . Instead of coming into the country legally , most are simply trying to sneak in . If this is allowed to continue unchecked it will also collapse the U.S. economy , which is what the communist want to happen so they can reconstruct the U. S. as a communist country . It is the reason we are building the wall between our southern boarder and Mexico . I have long since figured out countries outside of the U.S. are either being kept in the dark in the form of news blackouts or they are being lied to as to what is happening in the U.S. . I will ask for other U.S. members to help answer this question .

 

Keith some of the illegals are from overseas but the vast majority are coming from our own continent . Basically the central and southern portion of the American continent is collapsing economically . People are starving and desperate as their countries are imploding around them . Husbands sending wives out to prostitute themselves for a small amount of food . People are going to parks looking for a pigeon they can kill and eat .The number of people rushing toward the southern U.S. boarder is staggering but I don't have the exact figure to present . Mexico at my last account had brought in six thousand military troops to combat the rush of people toward our border but I believe the Mexicans have increased that number of troops . Maybe this explains some of my ranting about the communist / democrats , because they want illegals to invade the U.S. overwhelm our ability to be able to cope with them , collapse our economy and resurrect the U.S. as a communist nation . I am simply taking Obama's white house zare ,s word for it , Van Jones . He said publicly this was the democrat plan .

 

The power company there is turning off the electricity in times of high likelihood of potential fires because they were sued the last time their wires caused huge fires and destroyed thousands of homes and caused loss of life. They state that they will continue with this new policy in the future whenever the chance for wildfire is high.

 

I am against the use of the term "migrants" in reference to illegal aliens crossing our borders. Migrants file the paperwork to enter and work here legally. Illegal alien invaders do not. Also once here migrants do not protest our laws and fly the flag of their home country while here and protesting. Anyone who crosses our border illegally and flies the flag of another country is an invader and should be shot as such.

 

Did anybody hear if this actually happened? The article was written at 8:25 last night. Was the power turned off? This was the only thing I could find.

https://poweroutage.us/area/state/california

 

Lone wolf perhaps we could get your insight as to what happened to Germany . I noted you posted somewhere that Germany's economy is taking a downward turn . They flung open their boarder and let anyone in that wanted to come into their country . Is the foreign invasion the cause of their economy downturn ?

 

Good afternoon Keith,

Besides the lawful or unlawful status of the individual, San Francisco is a "sanctuary city". This is NOT an official or legal term. The term means the political establishment of the city will not cooperate with the Federal authorities in re deportations and related criminal matters.

Look up "Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez". Believe he was a murderer with a long criminal record.

Crime prevention and sanctuary cities means physical safety evaporates - unless living in one of those "gated communities" with restricted entry.

 

Californians have built homes in areas that normally will burn off at times. Also because Californians do not do any brush control due to liberal "natural " thinking these areas are huge tinderboxes just waiting for a spark to set them off. The last big wildfire in that area was started by a power company line down or a transformer and I believe caused over 80 deaths and millions in damage from homes burning.

 

California is run by liberal socialist idiots. They allow people to build on the side of a steep hill covered in dense dry brush and then make it against the law to clear or burn the brush in a controlled burn because it might ruin the homes of little critters. Illegal aliens are CRIMINALS not in any way migrants. Many of them only want to come here to get on welfare or sell drugs. California is so stupid that they actually ALLOW and encourage illegal aliens to vote in local and state elections.

They make their cities into sanctuary cities where they refuse to enforce federal law and protect and hide these criminals. All of their shenanigans would be just their problem if they didn't always go out of money and bankrupt and then expect the rest of us to pay the bills for them. I guarantee that in the end the rest of us in the country will end up paying the bills for this mess.

They refuse to allow their utility companies to charge enough to actually make a profit AND maintain their infrastructure. No profit means the stockholders sell out and that means bankruptcy and once again California goes begging and expects the rest of us to bail them out. I say let them rot. Honestly, if you are not a liberal and don't like the way they are running things then you need to leave... or you will eventually go down with the ship.

 

I don't know if we have any attorneys on this forum, but I would really like a legal explanation of the difference between a sanctuary city, and a Jim Crow law. They both look pretty similar to me; a total disregard for Federal Law.

 

https://abc7news.com/society/pg-e-issues-all-clear-for-parts-of-bay-area/5607592/


Good morning all,

Above is an update.

No need to note the article's "Traffic lights are out. The Santa Rosa Fire Department reports more accidents than usual".

 

Politics aside this is a good wake-up call to everybody. Seems like a lot more feel-good stories than horror stories. People came together to help each other through. Some people thought they were prepared only to find out their generator didn't work. Not the best time for that to happen. You think some routine maintenance testing might be a good idea? It didn't seem to affect anybody but the customers without power. I didn't hear any horror stories about a ripple effect.

 

It will be interesting to see what happens when the crime statistics are published.

 

https://www.foxnews.com/us/oxygen-dependent-man-dies-12-minutes-after-pge-cuts-power-to-his-home

Oxygen-dependent California man dies 12 minutes after PG&E cuts power to his home
By Morgan Phillips | Fox News
Fox News Flash top headlines for Oct. 11
Fox News Flash top headlines for Oct. 11 are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com

A Northern California man dependent on an oxygen supply died Wednesday, shortly after power cuts by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. affected his home, fire officials said Friday.

Robert Mardis, 67, died roughly 12 minutes after PG&E cut power to his home and the surrounding area. An autopsy report concluded the man died of severe coronary artery atherosclerosis, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Fire personnel responded to a call around 3:40 a.m. and found Mardis unresponsive on the floor of his home, according to El Dorado County Interim Fire Chief Lloyd Ogan. He was found wearing a nasal cannula, used to deliver oxygen to the nose, and was hooked up to a PPAP machine for that purpose. Mardis' family told Fox 40 he couldn’t reach his battery-powered tank in time.

California’s largest utility company instituted blackouts for its customers beginning Wednesday to prevent high winds from toppling power lines, which could cause deadly wildfires such as last year's Camp Fire, which left 85 people dead and was attributed to PG&E equipment.

Frustrations ran high as around 700,000 customers went without power. Experts say the actual number of people affected amounts to almost 2 million California residents. About half of those who lost power in the San Francisco Bay Area had it back by Friday.

For most it was a major inconvenience, but for Mardis, it may have had a deadly unintended consequence. PG&E spokeswoman Brandi Merlo said Friday that the company did not have any details about the death and had not substantiated it. But California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has been critical of the service provider’s actions, called the death “devastating beyond words.”

“Losing a family member is horrific and to the extent this was the reason why, I hope that is investigated and I hope those responsible are held to account," he said, according to The Sacramento Bee.

PG&E offers a “medical baseline” to customers, allowing them discounted rates and advance notice of public safety power shutoffs. It’s unclear whether Mardish was such a customer.

Newsom has said PG&E’s power cuts are an issue of its own making, arguing that the company should have been working on making its power system sturdier and more weatherproof.

PG&E said in a statement that employees located 11 spots where parts of its systems were damaged due to strong winds but did not provide any details. That information will be in a state-mandated report the utility must give regulators within 10 days after the outage ends.

Fox News' Travis Fedschun contributed to this report.

 

Serfs of the People's Republic of California are also watching the 2nd Amendment being burned.

https://d97yz4wvpgciz.cloudfront.ne...governor-newsom-signs-anti-gun-bills-into-law

Wildfires, communism, wall-to-wall flaky people, electrical blackouts, earthquakes, inevitable apocalyptic tsunamis, urban gang infestations, invasion by foreigners wanting our tax dollars to fund their breeding practices, ... . If you are an American living in that anti-American, anti-God, hell-hole why haven't you left already?! Get out. If you are a business owner, move your company out of that cesspool. Let California go bankrupt. Do all that you can to harm California.

 

Absolutely love it!

Urban areas are write-offs of course, however in addition to deep rural areas, I'd be willing to bet that many suburbanites are sufficiently armed to bug-out (maybe even bug-in?). Were I young and trapped near a mass-population area, I do believe that one means of armament I would choose would be the off-road motorbike. In addition to a short firearm (carbine and/or handgun), there would be the backpack with water filter, lightweight food supplies, fire starters, and lightweight tarp thick-ish plastic sheet. All highways will be totally blocked post SHTF. Maybe I could get to somewhere safererererer. Tarp + filtering = make-do water source in dry areas.

 

Good morning Last Outlaw,

Ref; The death of 67 yo O2-dependent Californian

The loss of the man because of the PG&E electricity cutoff is tragic but understandable. Yet his loss of life is REALLY attributable to him living alone. After no electric power for his CPAP (article incorrectly uses: "PPAP") machine, the man's battery-powered back-up system is mentioned. A live-in caregiver could have assisted in the O2 supply concurrent with being available to help in any required evacuation. Otherwise, how could a 67 yo invalid evac by himself ?

The Governor's statements in the article are pure politics. The PG&E "medical baseline" program appears to be part of the problem. Strong winds damaging power lines is still only ~ 10% of the overall causes of wildfire dangers.

Whether living alone in a severe wildfire area or a hurricane flood zone or a rural-remote area has less to do with electricity than the citizen's health status and preparedness.