California utilities are woefully behind on maintenance and new power systems to prevent long-term blackouts.
Millions of Californians could spend days without power as the state’s largest utility continues shutting off electricity in a desperate attempt to avoid wildfires sparked by windblown power lines.In the meantime, utilities will continue to practice what is known as “de-energization,” otherwise known as blacking out customers.
PG&E cited “gusty winds and dry conditions combined with a heightened fire risk” in cutting power in the first minutes of Wednesday morning to 513,000 customers in the Sacramento area. The shutdowns spread in all directions and as far south as Santa Clara County by Wednesday evening. Elizaveta Malashenko, deputy executive director for safety policy at the PUC, said there is an “elevated level of concern” about PG&E because of the age and condition of much of its equipment and its inability to control trees and vegetation.
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