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Nah, we just string the cables haphazardly wherever, through trees is just fine, because of course it's always sunny and nice in California. It seriously looks

Nah, we just string the cables haphazardly wherever, through trees is just fine, because of course it's always sunny and nice in California. It seriously looks like third world infrastructure to someone from another part of the country, where weather events happen often enough that the utility has to give a shit.

dahdum 8y ago
PG&E can’t afford to do that without raising capital. CPUC won’t approve rate hikes to finance that capital. Legislators pass no new laws or regulations. Then when it goes awry CPUC and legislators stand far back and decry PG&E for negligence.
- bleriot 8y ago
  They could afford to pay out a regular dividend, illegally skipped safety measures on pipelines, and “an independent audit from the State of California issued a report stating that PG&E had illegally diverted over $100 million from a fund used for safety operations, and instead used it for executive compensation and bonuses”. Ratepayers and taxpayers should never have to pay for deliberate executive negligence. https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-pge-safety-investigation-20181214-story.html https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-pge-safety-investigat...
- gamblor956 8y ago
  PG&E had more than enough money to bury its power lines, and used that money to fund dividends and executive bonuses instead.
- objektif 8y ago
  Hold on they were not allowed to do secondary offerings? Or debt raise? Have you seen the stock price of PCG? Share price trend does not resemble a company with financial troubles.
bilbo0s 8y ago
>It seriously looks like third world infrastructure to someone from another part of the country... and: >we just string the cables haphazardly wherever, through trees is just fine... ??? That's actually the same infrastructure as the rest of the nation. Or at least, that's what it's like every place in the US that I've lived. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Houston, etc etc etc.
beatgammit 8y ago
Have you been to a third world country? Most power cables near people are buried, where it makes sense. Burying cables if expensive and the risk of wild fire is pretty low if brush and forests are maintained. However, we keep putting out fires instead of letting things burn down normally. Wild fires may be sparked by an electrician malfunction, but that's merely a symptom of the larger problem of poor natural resource management. In a third world country, wires are draped across houses in a way that is very likely to cause problems. The situation in every part of the US that I've visited is better than every third world country I've been to.

dahdum 8y ago

PG&E can’t afford to do that without raising capital. CPUC won’t approve rate hikes to finance that capital. Legislators pass no new laws or regulations. Then when it goes awry CPUC and legislators stand far back and decry PG&E for negligence.

bleriot 8y ago
They could afford to pay out a regular dividend, illegally skipped safety measures on pipelines, and “an independent audit from the State of California issued a report stating that PG&E had illegally diverted over $100 million from a fund used for safety operations, and instead used it for executive compensation and bonuses”. Ratepayers and taxpayers should never have to pay for deliberate executive negligence. https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-pge-safety-investigation-20181214-story.html https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-pge-safety-investigat...
gamblor956 8y ago
PG&E had more than enough money to bury its power lines, and used that money to fund dividends and executive bonuses instead.
objektif 8y ago
Hold on they were not allowed to do secondary offerings? Or debt raise? Have you seen the stock price of PCG? Share price trend does not resemble a company with financial troubles.

bilbo0s 8y ago

>It seriously looks like third world infrastructure to someone from another part of the country... and: >we just string the cables haphazardly wherever, through trees is just fine... ??? That's actually the same infrastructure as the rest of the nation. Or at least, that's what it's like every place in the US that I've lived. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Houston, etc etc etc.

beatgammit 8y ago

Have you been to a third world country? Most power cables near people are buried, where it makes sense. Burying cables if expensive and the risk of wild fire is pretty low if brush and forests are maintained. However, we keep putting out fires instead of letting things burn down normally. Wild fires may be sparked by an electrician malfunction, but that's merely a symptom of the larger problem of poor natural resource management. In a third world country, wires are draped across houses in a way that is very likely to cause problems. The situation in every part of the US that I've visited is better than every third world country I've been to.