Topic: California planned power outages

[OldAlaskaGuy]

Getting ready for another round of planned power outages in parts of Northern and Central California from PG&E because of wildfire danger. Hopefully, it won't last longer than 48 hours. Where I am at no utilities except water. A lot of weather stations will be offline during this event.

[OldAlaskaGuy]

PG&E is Ppulling the plug at 2:00PM today hopefully back up starting at noon tomorrow. Camping at home. BBQ dinner outside, a few glasses of wine and neighbors talking without technology. I might find 2 tin cans and some string to ease the pain.

[Mabcmb]

I'm down in SCE area and we have had the same thing around us . So far hasn't hit our area . This new plan is all state mandated from Sac from what I understand . I have a friend who works for SCE and he told me if the winds are predicted to be high ( he didn't know the exact number ) and the humidity is at or below a certain number they have to cut power for that area . Friends and relatives  of ours up in NoCal have all bought generators or the new Inverter type of generators because they say this is going to happen for a long long time .

  Good luck to you and yours stay safe out there !! 

[OldAlaskaGuy]

Three realizations; 1) is even though your immediate area does not meet the conditions for an outage if the power lines that service your area pass through an area that meets the contitions your power will be cut. 2)  it takes time to shut down properly, coordinating resources to manage the load to other areas. Certainly not the same as "flicking a switch". 3) All lines need to be checked for damage before they can be energized.

[Notsorusty]

It goes with saying but unplugging sensitive equipment until things have been safely restored would be a wise move.

[OldAlaskaGuy]

Still another outage planned for this weekend starting Saturday 10/26 through Sunday 10/27 due to low humidity, high wind, and high temperatures. I have steaks and potatoes to grill, a good supply of whiskey and wine and a battery powered radio for news and music.

[Notsorusty]

Hope your grilling is your choice, not the neighborhood going up in smoke.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Stay safe.

[ocala]

Just curious but what is the root cause of the fire danger out there?
I understand once a fire gets going the winds are the main factor. But what is the origin of these fires. Arson, someone throwing a cig butt out the window, arcing power lines etc.
Or is the climate so dry that just a little spark can send everything over edge.

[CW2274]

Or is the climate so dry that just a little spark can send everything over edge.

Not as dry as where I live, but certainly enough that they burn every year, just like we do, especially when in drought.

[ocala]

Or is the climate so dry that just a little spark can send everything over edge.

Not as dry as where I live, but certainly enough that they burn every year, just like we do, especially when in drought.

Maybe they shouldn't build in these fire prone area's. Or is that over simplifying it.
I know parts of the everglades burn every year but no one lives out there so eventually it burns itself out.

[CW2274]

Or is the climate so dry that just a little spark can send everything over edge.

Not as dry as where I live, but certainly enough that they burn every year, just like we do, especially when in drought.

Maybe they shouldn't build in these fire prone area's.

But they do, just like people build beach front properties that are prone to flood from tropical systems. Insurance premiums would be through the roof.

[OldAlaskaGuy]

The current concern is that under certain conditions, low humidity, high temperatures, and high winds, electric distribution wires can dislodge from the towers and cause ground arcing causing fires. This ground fire will get into the surrounding forest that has excessive ground fuel and thick growth. Once there it will grow quickly with the warm, dry winds.

[graculus]

Just curious but what is the root cause of the fire danger out there?
I understand once a fire gets going the winds are the main factor. But what is the origin of these fires. Arson, someone throwing a cig butt out the window, arcing power lines etc.
Or is the climate so dry that just a little spark can send everything over edge.

All of the above, but often it's hard to 100% determine the cause. Recently the Carr fire was caused by sparks from a trailer running on a flat tire/rim. The Camp fire, and the Tubbs fire were almost certainly due to power line issues. Years ago the big Fountain fire was believed to be caused by dragging safety chains on a pickup/trailer combo. One close to me recently started on the side of the road likely by a cig butt. We've had plenty of stupidity too, like using a gas powered mower in the heat of the day in summer when all the grass is crispy anyway. And sadly, arson, like the Clover fire.

By this time of year all the vegetation is dried out. Lots of property owners don't take care of their land to mitigate
fire risk, and the public and private forests are stuffed with excess fuel for reasons we won't address here.

[graculus]

The current concern is that under certain conditions, low humidity, high temperatures, and high winds, electric distribution wires can dislodge from the towers and cause ground arcing causing fires. This ground fire will get into the surrounding forest that has excessive ground fuel and thick growth. Once there it will grow quickly with the warm, dry winds.

Not only that, in my experience if there are winds over 40 mph we will see snapped off wooden poles.

[awsum140]

Another thing to consider is the static charge that can build on a wire, from high winds, even if it's de-energized.  That line falls into dry brush and causes a spark...well the result can be a little "messy".

[CW2274]

More good news for NoCal....

Weather forecasts indicate that strong winds are set to impact much of the region over the weekend. Some gusts are projected to reach 85 mph and there's a possibility of it being a record wind event, the National Weather Service warned,

"The winds are expected anywhere between 8 p.m. and midnight and from all reports they're expected to be extremely strong," said Brian Vitorelo with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) confirmed it would initiate a mass power shut-off of nearly 940,000 customers on Saturday, with the total impacted rising from 2.5 to 2.8 million.

[ocala]

Man the generators must be flying off the shelves out there.
Kinda what happens here when a hurricane approaches.

[CW2274]

Man the generators must be flying off the shelves out there.

And how many leeches are marking them up 300%?

[ocala]

Man the generators must be flying off the shelves out there.

And how many leeches are marking them up 300%?

If it's like Florida price Gouging is illegal. The state has fined  many business's  for doing that.

[CW2274]

Man the generators must be flying off the shelves out there.

And how many leeches are marking them up 300%?

If it's like Florida price Gouging is illegal. The state has fined  many business's  for doing that.

I pretty much thought it was for gasoline, but other items, I'm not sure. I hope this is the case as well, but this is California.

[graculus]

I pretty much thought it was for gasoline, but other items, I'm not sure. I hope this is the case as well, but this is California.

In CA there has to be an officially declared emergency for the State law to kick in. If it does, price increases are limited to 10%. I doubt the planned shutdown qualifies 

[ocala]

I pretty much thought it was for gasoline, but other items, I'm not sure. I hope this is the case as well, but this is California.

In CA there has to be an officially declared emergency for the State law to kick in. If it does, price increases are limited to 10%. I doubt the planned shutdown qualifies 

The situation out there does not qualify as an emergency?

[Mabcmb]

I pretty much thought it was for gasoline, but other items, I'm not sure. I hope this is the case as well, but this is California.

In CA there has to be an officially declared emergency for the State law to kick in. If it does, price increases are limited to 10%. I doubt the planned shutdown qualifies 

The situation out there does not qualify as an emergency?

Yes both the NoCal area and the SoCal area are under a "  STATE OF EMERGENCY " . https://www.gov.ca.gov/2019/10/25/governor-newsom-declares-state-of-emergency-in-sonoma-and-los-angeles-counties-due-to-fires/

[graculus]

I pretty much thought it was for gasoline, but other items, I'm not sure. I hope this is the case as well, but this is California.

In CA there has to be an officially declared emergency for the State law to kick in. If it does, price increases are limited to 10%. I doubt the planned shutdown qualifies 

The situation out there does not qualify as an emergency?

Yes both the NoCal area and the SoCal area are under a "  STATE OF EMERGENCY " . https://www.gov.ca.gov/2019/10/25/governor-newsom-declares-state-of-emergency-in-sonoma-and-los-angeles-counties-due-to-fires/

@ocala - I don't think it's an emergency if you get advance notice, and the same thing happened very recently also with advance warning so you know it's very likely to come to pass.

@Mabcmb - Those emergency declarations are because of the fires burning in those areas, nothing to do with the California planned power outages.

[graculus]

Update: Today the .gov declared a statewide state of emergency, but by now there are no generators (or D cells) left.