3 ms·

Is there no technical solution here? They were fined 30 billion, surely that could pay for some sort of fancy lower-risk transmission mechanism?

dredmorbius 7y ago
Very roughly, transmission line costs range from $2,500 - $16,000/mi. https://sites.utexas.edu/energyinstitute/files/2016/11/UTAustin_FCe_TransmissionCosts_2016.pdf https://sites.utexas.edu/energyinstitute/files/2016/11/UTAus... PG&E has 106,000 miles of total distribution: https://www.pge.com/en_US/about-pge/company-information/profile/profile.page https://www.pge.com/en_US/about-pge/company-information/prof... Which works out to less than $2 billion, so the $30 billion would account for at least an alternate (if not necessarily safer) system.
- Pinckney 7y ago
  The numbers you've quoted, from page 7, are per MW mile, not per mile.
  - dredmorbius 7y ago
    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.)
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
    - tamaharbor 7y ago
      You are multiplying transmission line costs by distribution costs per mile?
    - Pinckney 7y ago
      This PDF from Wisconsin puts the cost at $280k-390k/mi depending on the voltage of the line. They put the cost of underground transmission lines at $1.5M-2M/mi for the same voltages. https://psc.wi.gov/Documents/Brochures/Under%20Ground%20Transmission.pdf https://psc.wi.gov/Documents/Brochures/Under%20Ground%20Tran...
inferiorhuman 7y ago
Is there no technical solution here? They were fined 30 billion, surely that could pay for some sort of fancy lower-risk transmission mechanism? https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/pge-underground-power-lines-cost-14503808.php https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/pge-underground-power... Long story short, PG&E would rather spend the money on executive compensation.

dredmorbius 7y ago

Very roughly, transmission line costs range from $2,500 - $16,000/mi. https://sites.utexas.edu/energyinstitute/files/2016/11/UTAustin_FCe_TransmissionCosts_2016.pdf https://sites.utexas.edu/energyinstitute/files/2016/11/UTAus... PG&E has 106,000 miles of total distribution: https://www.pge.com/en_US/about-pge/company-information/profile/profile.page https://www.pge.com/en_US/about-pge/company-information/prof... Which works out to less than $2 billion, so the $30 billion would account for at least an alternate (if not necessarily safer) system.

Pinckney 7y ago
The numbers you've quoted, from page 7, are per MW mile, not per mile.
- dredmorbius 7y ago
  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.)
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - tamaharbor 7y ago
    You are multiplying transmission line costs by distribution costs per mile?
  - Pinckney 7y ago
    This PDF from Wisconsin puts the cost at $280k-390k/mi depending on the voltage of the line. They put the cost of underground transmission lines at $1.5M-2M/mi for the same voltages. https://psc.wi.gov/Documents/Brochures/Under%20Ground%20Transmission.pdf https://psc.wi.gov/Documents/Brochures/Under%20Ground%20Tran...

inferiorhuman 7y ago

Is there no technical solution here? They were fined 30 billion, surely that could pay for some sort of fancy lower-risk transmission mechanism? https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/pge-underground-power-lines-cost-14503808.php https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/pge-underground-power... Long story short, PG&E would rather spend the money on executive compensation.