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Shame that they're not getting better publicity as a result of this. Our main complaint about the internet companies is that they pocket the money meant to spee

Shame that they're not getting better publicity as a result of this. Our main complaint about the internet companies is that they pocket the money meant to speed up networks for their subscribers. This is exactly what utility companies ought to do to prepare for the future.

ceejayoz 5y ago
They’re doing it because they went bankrupt over $30B in liability from not preparing in this fashion. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/01/business/energy-environment/pge-bankruptcy-ends.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/01/business/energy-environme... > PG&E sought bankruptcy protection in January 2019 after accumulating an estimated $30 billion in liability for fires started by its poorly maintained equipment. One of the blazes, the 2018 Camp Fire, killed scores of people and destroyed the town of Paradise. It wasn’t voluntary, really.
- bcrosby95 5y ago
  A large part of why they're doing it because they're guaranteed a certain percentage return on investments. There's ways to fix this problem without a $25bil investment, but you won't make nearly as much profit on that.
  - bryan0 5y ago
    what's a better, cheaper way to fix the wildfire problem?
    - sagarm 5y ago
      People who choose to live in the Wildlands urban interface should bear the cost for undergrounding the wires they rely on IMO. Probably politically infeasible, unfortunately.
      - dntrkv 5y ago
        Wildfires in California not only affect California itself, but neighboring states as well. Last year I drove from CA to CO. The wildfire smoke from California covered all of Nevada and Utah. I don't know where you live, but if you are in CA, there is a very high chance that you live in a wildland-urban interface zone. About 45% of housing in CA would fall under this category. These risks aren't limited to people living up in the mountains. A large chunk of the Bay Area is a wildland-urban interface. All of this to say, preventing wild fires is in everybody's best interest and trying to pass the costs to one group or another will only delay our timeline to address these issues. Burying power lines is just one part of the solution.
    - coryrc 5y ago
      We don't have a wildfire problem. There have been fires for thousands of years. There are supposed to be fires. Our problem is people build non-fireproof homes in forests and demand the government mismanage the forest by stopping fires.
      - dntrkv 5y ago
        Around 90% of wild fires are caused by humans. A few of the recent major fires (the Camp Fire being one of them) were caused by power lines. So there is definitely a major human-cause component here that can be addressed. I am all for more prescribed burns, but the people in opposition to those burns aren't the people living in the most at-risk areas.
        coryrc 5y ago
        Fires were intentionally set by humans for thousands of years. The forests evolved with them. There needs to be fire. The causes don't need to be "addressed".
    - dntrkv 5y ago
      Bury power lines. Address liability, insurance, and red tape around prescribed burns so that we can actually meet our goals. Better enforcement (and more government funding) of creating defensible space around homes.

ceejayoz 5y ago

They’re doing it because they went bankrupt over $30B in liability from not preparing in this fashion. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/01/business/energy-environment/pge-bankruptcy-ends.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/01/business/energy-environme... > PG&E sought bankruptcy protection in January 2019 after accumulating an estimated $30 billion in liability for fires started by its poorly maintained equipment. One of the blazes, the 2018 Camp Fire, killed scores of people and destroyed the town of Paradise. It wasn’t voluntary, really.

bcrosby95 5y ago
A large part of why they're doing it because they're guaranteed a certain percentage return on investments. There's ways to fix this problem without a $25bil investment, but you won't make nearly as much profit on that.
- bryan0 5y ago
  what's a better, cheaper way to fix the wildfire problem?
  - sagarm 5y ago
    People who choose to live in the Wildlands urban interface should bear the cost for undergrounding the wires they rely on IMO. Probably politically infeasible, unfortunately.
    - dntrkv 5y ago
      Wildfires in California not only affect California itself, but neighboring states as well. Last year I drove from CA to CO. The wildfire smoke from California covered all of Nevada and Utah. I don't know where you live, but if you are in CA, there is a very high chance that you live in a wildland-urban interface zone. About 45% of housing in CA would fall under this category. These risks aren't limited to people living up in the mountains. A large chunk of the Bay Area is a wildland-urban interface. All of this to say, preventing wild fires is in everybody's best interest and trying to pass the costs to one group or another will only delay our timeline to address these issues. Burying power lines is just one part of the solution.
  - coryrc 5y ago
    We don't have a wildfire problem. There have been fires for thousands of years. There are supposed to be fires. Our problem is people build non-fireproof homes in forests and demand the government mismanage the forest by stopping fires.
    - dntrkv 5y ago
      Around 90% of wild fires are caused by humans. A few of the recent major fires (the Camp Fire being one of them) were caused by power lines. So there is definitely a major human-cause component here that can be addressed. I am all for more prescribed burns, but the people in opposition to those burns aren't the people living in the most at-risk areas.
      - coryrc 5y ago
        Fires were intentionally set by humans for thousands of years. The forests evolved with them. There needs to be fire. The causes don't need to be "addressed".
  - dntrkv 5y ago
    Bury power lines. Address liability, insurance, and red tape around prescribed burns so that we can actually meet our goals. Better enforcement (and more government funding) of creating defensible space around homes.