Scores of Northern California residents are preparing to lose power for an extended period because the company that provides their electricity chose to shut down its infrastructure so it doesn’t start yet another catastrophic wildfire during high winds and low humidity.
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In general, areas like Foster City were in no danger of wildfires and avoided the shutdown.
Foster City, built on landfill, is miles away from the green tree-covered hills that are covered with brown tinder during drought years.
Already anger is building toward PG&E, not so much for the decision itself--economic estimates for the shutdown are about $1 billion to avoid the $8 billion in damage from wildfires like those in the recent past--but for the mismanagement that put us in this situation.
I think the critics are being too harsh. The utility has been focusing on California's stated priority of converting power sources to renewable energy (except for nuclear), where PG&E is ahead of schedule. They're just doing what we wanted them to do.
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