Re:PG&E electricity shutoff confirmed for nearly 800k Northe...
by nostrademons on Tuesday October 08, 2019 @06:43PM
(#21198092)
They're already bankrupt - filed for Chapter 11 at the beginning of this year.
What they should've been doing all along is maintaining their damn equipment - the reason we have regulated public monopolies is so that they can generate sufficient revenues to afford long-term capital investments that prevent things like this. There're a bunch of systemic failures here, some on the part of CPUC (California Public Utilities Commission) and some on PG&E management. But given that we're here, blackouts are probably preferable to burning up half the state again.
It does make me want to just go off-grid with a Powerwall and solar panels. If we don't actually get reliable electricity out of the deal, exactly what are we paying the electricity company for? But that's challenging as a renter, and buying (and maintaining) a house in California is equally challenging.
What they should've been doing all along is maintaining their damn equipment - the reason we have regulated public monopolies is so that they can generate sufficient revenues to afford long-term capital investments that prevent things like this. There're a bunch of systemic failures here, some on the part of CPUC (California Public Utilities Commission) and some on PG&E management. But given that we're here, blackouts are probably preferable to burning up half the state again.
It does make me want to just go off-grid with a Powerwall and solar panels. If we don't actually get reliable electricity out of the deal, exactly what are we paying the electricity company for? But that's challenging as a renter, and buying (and maintaining) a house in California is equally challenging.