News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Five Oregon counties vote to leave state, create 'Greater Idaho'. Parent comment

Re:Five Oregon counties vote to leave state, create 'Greater... by causality0 on Thursday May 20, 2021 @06:19PM (#27228140)
New power lines are almost never the cause of wildfires. Old, poorly-maintained lines are. For example, the Camp fire that killed 86 people was caused by a hundred year old line that hadn't been serviced in decades. For miles of line around the origin site of the fire the C-hooks looked like this: https://i.imgur.com/r42KsHR.jpg
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Five Oregon counties vote to leave state, create 'Greater... by ethbr0 on Thursday May 20, 2021 @07:11PM (#27228606)
Total installed powerline length vs population is a problem.

Whether they're new / old or well / poorly serviced is just a difference of a few decades.

If there isn't money to service old lines now, then there won't be money to service formerly-new lines in 30 years.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Five Oregon counties vote to leave state, create 'Greater... by causality0 on Thursday May 20, 2021 @07:56PM (#27228948)
It's not a question of insufficient funds. They spent five billion dollars on shareholder dividends while corporate documents show they were completely aware the equipment was breaking down and posed a wildfire risk, and they broke multiple state regulations to do so.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Five Oregon counties vote to leave state, create 'Greater... by d110af5ccf on Thursday May 20, 2021 @09:18PM (#27229475)
Some background to add to the above: https://twitter.com/tubetimeus/status/1306366930899460097 and https://www.buttecounty.net/Portals/30/CFReport/PGE-THE-CAMP...
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Five Oregon counties vote to leave state, create 'Greater... by zbrozek on Thursday May 20, 2021 @10:07PM (#27229751)
The Camp fire report was riveting after-work reading. The financial engineering to avoid opex and instead magnify capex as a way to bilk the ratepayer is ingenious and evil. Further, their operating procedures and culture seem carefully engineered as a liability dodge. Read the report, it's amazing.
[ Parent | on HN ]