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.

[CW2274]

And cutting power accomplishes what?

[OldAlaskaGuy]

At this time it helps to decrease the possibility of a wildfire. I am thankful for that. There have been 3 major fires within 100 miles of my house in the last 4 years. At this time it is a solution but unsustainable. Some people are under the assumption that turning off power to 80,000-100,000 is a simple task. A lot of time, thought and effort go into this. It is not the first choice but only a stop-gap effort until there are other alternatives.

[badhairday]

I have a couple of friends who up until recently lived in Paradise CA.  The Camp fire in 2018 changed everything.  Their homes as well as the rest of the town is just a pile of ashes.  It is a pretty sad site to see.

A better solution to cutting off power will take time and money. 

[OldAlaskaGuy]

My understanding is that PG&E currently does NOT have the capabilities to "selectively" cut feeder power to just locations that are experiencing "Santa Ana" winds, they can only chop the power to LARGE areas. However, (ironically) such a plan was supposedly considered decades but was never implemented.

I believe that this to be partially true. Even though the immediate area such as mine is not suffering from low humidity/high winds, if the trunk line that supplies the area goes through an area of low humidity/high winds then the power will be cut.

[CW2274]

And cutting power accomplishes what?

At this time it helps to decrease the possibility of a wildfire.

So if I understand correctly, the fear is high tension lines being blown together from high winds that cause sparking that will ignite the brush under said power lines because of "red flag conditions". Is that about right?

[OldAlaskaGuy]

Yes, this also with the past policy of not harvesting timber on State and National land allowing a build-up of ground fuels can and has lead to catastrophic forest fires.

[badhairday]

So if I understand correctly, the fear is high tension lines being blown together from high winds that cause sparking that will ignite the brush under said power lines because of "red flag conditions". Is that about right?

No, I don't think you do understand it.  Thousands of homes were destroyed in California by fires ignited from falling power lines.  High winds, power lines and drought all played a part.  Not something to make light of.   

[OldAlaskaGuy]

So if I understand correctly, the fear is high tension lines being blown together from high winds that cause sparking that will ignite the brush under said power lines because of "red flag conditions". Is that about right?

No, I don't think you do understand it.  Thousands of homes were destroyed in California by fires ignited from falling power lines.  High winds, power lines and drought all played a part.  Not something to make light of.   

I don't think the poster has made light of anything. He simply asked a question.

[CW2274]

So if I understand correctly, the fear is high tension lines being blown together from high winds that cause sparking that will ignite the brush under said power lines because of "red flag conditions". Is that about right?

No, I don't think you do understand it.  Thousands of homes were destroyed in California by fires ignited from falling power lines.  High winds, power lines and drought all played a part.  Not something to make light of.   

What the hell are you talking about? Those were completely legitimate questions...my research didn't explain the concern to my satisfaction. BTW, my brother lives there as well. Keep your unfounded comments to yourself.

[CW2274]

So if I understand correctly, the fear is high tension lines being blown together from high winds that cause sparking that will ignite the brush under said power lines because of "red flag conditions". Is that about right?

No, I don't think you do understand it.  Thousands of homes were destroyed in California by fires ignited from falling power lines.  High winds, power lines and drought all played a part.  Not something to make light of.   

I don't think the poster has made light of anything. He simply asked a question.

And you answered it, thank you.