Make a Power Move?

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

When they have tried to cut the vegetation in the past, environmental groups put up a lot of resistance, increasing expenses.

Maybe the State can do their part with prescribed burns and removing overgrown areas by logging.

Ha Ha Ha , that's funny. This state will NEVER do their part in taking care of cutting the dead and diseased trees or clearing the brush. They have this strange idea that controlled burns are far more damaging the to the environment than out of control wildfires that burn for weeks. Heck they don't even clear the weeds and brush that grows in the center dividers of the freeways. This is a strange state, you have to live here to believe some of the garbage that goes on, no common sense whatsoever in government. Regarding power lines, I have Southern California Edison and their easement is right behind my block wall. Years ago they used to let it get really overgrown but the past three years or so, they bring in heavy equipment before fire season to clear all the brush especially at the base of the poles. They have also replaced most of the wooden poles with higher concrete ones. Strangely they've left one series of wooden ones marching through the desert, it probably belongs to another utility, if I had to guess, Los Angeles DWP also know for their lack of maintenance.

 

[kgtest]

What’s the difference between California and the Titanic? The Titanic went down with the lights on.

This is a good one. Live in California, but leave before it breaks your heart. True Story. Now I just visit like the other half of the population.

 

[NW-Bound]

The fire danger would scare me a lot more than the power outage, which can be alleviated.

There are so many ways a tinder box gets ignited, not just from power lines touching trees. There have been a few cases of steel chains between trailers and their towing vehicles being dragged on the pavement, causing sparks to ignite dry grass along the sides of the road. That has happened in Arizona too. Or a criminal idiot throwing out a cigarette butt. And that has happened here too.

"If it's not one thing, it's 'nother" -- Gilda Radner

 

[Brat]

This week Oregon has had two controlled burns flame up from the wind. Luckily they were in an area that had been burned so neither burned far.

 

[msanniee]

The reason PG&E did not upgrade is because lawsuits are cheaper than the upgrades. It is not just an issue of upgrades, it is also an issue of just doing the basic work required. That work simply was not done. Lawsuits are less costly.

I knew someone who was in a senior management level when PG&E was moving around assets which made the utility less valuable and enabled rate increases. The “we don’t have money” mantra.

 

[SkisALot]

My house in a wildfire area at 7500 feet closes escrow next week and DH and I are out of California as fast as we can get out. We lived in this house for over 40 years and loved it but the loonies are loose in this state. Regulations will not allow the utility companies to clear land, go underground, or do anything, so black-outs will get worse. In wildfire areas the environmentalists will not allow firefighting in the forest without an archeologist determining whether every rock is okay to move. There's more but no need to go into it here. The place is bonkers. Goodbye California. Good riddance.

 

[Randy145]

California is a great place to visit, but I'd never want to live there. Between the cost of living, taxes, overbearing laws, earthquakes, fires, etc., I don't know why anyone would choose to live there. Sorry Californians!

It's a haven for millennials post-college (including both of my kids) due to job opportunities, at least in the bay area. Then they get further spoiled by the weather and all the cool things to do. Then they start their families and get so entrenched in the Cali life-style that it's very hard to break away.

 

[FreeBear]

My house in a wildfire area at 7500 feet closes escrow next week and DH and I are out of California as fast as we can get out. We lived in this house for over 40 years and loved it but the loonies are loose in this state. Regulations will not allow the utility companies to clear land, go underground, or do anything, so black-outs will get worse. In wildfire areas the environmentalists will not allow firefighting in the forest without an archeologist determining whether every rock is okay to move. There's more but no need to go into it here. The place is bonkers. Goodbye California. Good riddance.

So where are you headed instead

 

[zippy2020]

>> This state will NEVER do their part in taking care of cutting the dead and diseased trees or clearing the brush. >>

There's a lot of comments similar to this blaming the state for "not managing the forests".

Please know that the State of CA owns VERY LITTLE of the forestlands in a state that is bigger than the country of Germany:

(cnbc.com, August 2018) "...The federal government is the largest owner of forest lands in California, holding about 57 percent of the roughly 33 million acres. Families, individuals, companies or Native American tribes own about 40 percent of forested land in California, while local, state and land trusts own the remainder."

IOW, less than 3% of forestlands are owned and managed by the State of CA. State employees are NOT allowed to work on any private or federal lands without legal consent which must be negotiated with the owners.

The majority of the 40% of privately held forests is owned in individual parcels of less than 50 acres in size (one square mile = 640 acres).

 

[indiajust]

PGE has had government monopoly since dawn of time for CA. Essentially this is government electricity, run by the DMV. The fire suppression policy of the past few decades is a big contributor to the intensity and risk of catastrophic fire, instead of regular burns and brush clearing. Both the homeless problem and the housing problem are tied to land use regulation and fees/permits. Instead of building more intensively in fire safe cities, people are pushed out into the brush. And they are subsidized by insurance regulation. CA problems are of their own making. Only unsolvable because of the people and systems, not the difficulty of the problems.

 

[Winemaker]

Five years ago, DW and I hiked through Armstrong Redwood Forest Reserve, a California park. Throughout the hike there were hundreds of redwoods visibly scarred by fire 50-75 feet high, with charred bark and branches. Despite this charring that looked so fresh, I was astonished by the fact that there was also a variety of live trees, brush in various ages. When I asked the rangers about the scarring and when the last fire occurred in the area, they answered that 'that was question that some of the Spanish, Russian explorers asked the native peoples 400 years ago" and the answer was that the Indians and their ancestors never saw a fire there either. He went on and explained that the buildup of brush and large wildfires is not a recent or modern day problem.

 

[SkisALot]

So where are you headed instead

Idaho. We're taking only clothes and personal pictures.

 

[NW-Bound]

I just saw a few articles about Idaho being a prime spot for fleeing Californians. I wonder if they go to the Boise area, or the Banana Belt.

 

[SkisALot]

I just saw a few articles about Idaho being a prime spot for fleeing Californians. I wonder if they go to the Boise area, or the Banana Belt.

Obviously I can't speak for others; DH and I are headed for the Boise area. Because he is a retired pro skier it's important for us to be near a ski area and there we're near one and not far from another larger one.

 

[wolf]

Been a CA, resident all my life. S.F. Bay area. This is the cause of the problem.

1. Pacific Gas and Electric. Deferred maintenance of gas and electrical lines.
ie. 100 yr old, towers. Electrical cable/power lines snap, Hot wire hits tower,
metal melts, molten metal hits ground/trees, Or hot wire hits nearby trees.
Add a little wind, disaster.

P.G.E. Management put profits ahead of common sense.
Ca. Public Utilities Commission. Suppose to oversee PGE, Failed.

2. California. Has Environmental Activists/laws. Do not clear out dead trees. Do not
build fire breaks, No clear cutting. Leave "Nature" to take care of our forest.

Many "timber" companies, were put out of business. So are forest are no longer
managed. The ground under the forest is full dead trees, brush, etc.

So instead of a small ground fire, we have entire forests burn up.

Some of you "old timers", out there, if you listened to KGO, Bill Wattenburg, (check him out, just passed away), he always warned us, there is going to be a fire storm in CA,
if we do not take care of our forests. Took, about 10+ years, but now it's happening.

Sorry if I'm off topic. But if proper prevention and common sense prevailed, We Californians would not be in the mess we are having.

 

[Sanbenito1]

I encourage people to leave California. Most are from ‘back East’ anyway. Worst thing that ever happened to CA was Silicon Valley and half the country moving here.

 

[SkisALot]

DH and I have lived in Calif most of our lives but we've had enough of the loonies. We know many people who were born here who have left. It's a beautiful place, but now ruined.

 

[Another Reader]

I do not like what has happened to California, but as I get older, the thought of relocation is less appealing. The proposed estate tax will push me out if it passes. In the meantime, I'm establishing a second home out of state for "bugging out."

 

[aja8888]

DH and I have lived in Calif most of our lives but we've had enough of the loonies. We know many people who were born here who have left. It's a beautiful place, but now ruined.

We did 12 years in Ventura County in the 80's- 90's as an ARCO employee transferee. Ventura County was a nice place back then and not too populated.

We left when the Company was dismantling and moved to Texas. We were originally from Connecticut and didn't want to go back to that state when taxes (and politics) got out of control, similar to California.

My DW has siblings in central California and they are too old to make a big move and have kids/grandkids there. Luckily, they are not in fire prone zones.

 

[LRDave]

I think the Mods should rename the thread: "Pile On Cali".

 

[MuirWannabe]

I think the Mods should rename the thread: "Pile On Cali".

Much of it seems piling on Cali from folks who live in Cali. Self-piling if you will.

 

[harley]

Much of it seems piling on Cali from folks who live in Cali. Self-piling if you will.

CA is the birthplace of the selfie.

 

[target2019]

No Tell California?

 

[segfault]

There has to be some truth to what PG&E claimed. That is it would cost between $75 billion and $150 billion and require hiring 650,000 workers, just to trim trees.

And I just read again about the governor of CA asking Warren Buffett to buy out PG&E.

Does anyone think Buffett would fall for it? Would Berkshire Hathaway shareholders (I am one) like the idea ? No, I don't.

Everyone has a price. As a fellow shareholder, I'm totally in favor of owning PG&E--the only question is how many billions California would have to pay Berkshire to take it.

At last year's meeting, one of the head honchos of their energy operations spoke briefly, and I remember him saying something to the effect of their operations in Iowa would be 100% net renewable within a couple of years. He said they were trying to do the same thing in the PacNW, but as you might imagine, there is a lot more red tape to go through to build wind turbines as compared to Iowa. And ironically, people who live in the PacNW are clamoring for renewable energy more than Iowans!

 

[ziggy29]

I think the Mods should rename the thread: "Pile On Cali".

"Fans don't boo nobodies." -- Reggie Jackson

Point being, California by itself would be like the 6th largest economy in the world and is often a bellwether for the rest of the nation in some ways. So people pay attention to what happens there.