Lawsuits Run Amok in California

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https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/29/pge-pow ... ekend.html

The power outages worked, but only in the locations they were used.

This week a homeowner told the Los Angeles Times: “They shut off the power and we still had a fire. I don’t understand it.” That’s because less than 10% of fires are caused by power lines. It’s impossible even to know if the intentional outages are doing more harm than good, though the question at least was broached in a state Senate hearing this year. Utilities make the decision. They are understandably focused on minimizing their own financial liability rather than weighing the trade-offs that outages impose on the public.

Holman Jenkins: California wildfires – Can 40 million suffer from third-world blackouts without voter revolt?

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is urging residents across the state to not threaten or harass workers with Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) as angry customers continue to vent their frustrations about widespread power outages aimed at preventing wildfires.

Some PG&E workers have reported objects being thrown at them and damage to offices and company vehicles. In one case, Newsom said a worker on the way to inspect power lines was run off a road. The utility has described similar incidents in recent weeks where its employees were targeted.

[url=California governor pleads with residents to stop targeting utility workers]https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-governor-targeting-utility-workers[/url]

gotta be a better way. gotta be smart people down there who know a better way. why aren't these people in charge?

Another massive lawsuit portends more blackouts in the future for California.

A Southern California utility has agreed to pay $360 million to settle lawsuits over deadly wildfires sparked by the company's equipment in 2017 and 2018.

The Associated Press reported that Southern California Edison had agreed to repay counties, cities and other public agencies for firefighting costs and repairing damage caused by the Thomas Fire in 2017 and the Woolsey Fire last year.

Utility to pay $360M to settle Southern California wildfire lawsuits

without compassionate and public-spirited smart rats, where would we be today? we'd have died out long ago, methinks.

I read an article today that PG&E was being sued again this time by someone claiming their 500 pound emerald (worth in the neighborhood of $280 million) was damaged in the fire.

A California man reportedly has filed a monetary claim after recent wildfires that he said included a 500-pound emerald that could fetch $280 million, prompting PG&E – the electric utility company – to seek and question the historic gem’s alleged owner.

The claim is related to the 2018 Camp Fire that was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in the state’s history, Bloomberg reported. The blaze killed 85 people and destroyed 19,000 homes and other structures. The fire caused an estimated $16.5 billion in damage.

The electric and gas utility is looking for evidence that the emerald existed, which could include appraisal reports and receipts. The utility did not include the man’s name in the report.

Source: California man claims fire destroyed 500-pound emerald, report says

So it seems like another example of lawsuits run amok in California.

Do 500 pound Emeralds even exist? The Internet says "The Bahia Emerald is one of the largest emeralds and contains the largest single shard ever found. The stone, weighing approximately 752 lb (341 kg) (approximately 1,700,000 carats) originated from Bahia, Brazil and is emerald crystals embedded in host rock." This emerald was valued at $309 million. So it might be a possibility.

So my first question was if this emerald did exist then why is this man suing instead of the insurance company. Obviously if one has something of great value, they would protect it with loss insurance and the insurance company would be filing the lawsuit instead of this man.

But maybe this individual never insured the item. And then he left it laying around in his house. Also wouldn't a person if he possessed such a valuable emerald place it in an underground fireproof safe protecting it from fire damage?

What are you going to do to put a stop to it?

I lived in California for 6 years. You couldn’t pay me to go back.

for californians, what would be a representative shopping list of things to do, in order to "fight back"?

California utilities plan to continue shutting off power to customers during dry and windy conditions to prevent sparking deadly wildfires, but they aim to make outages more targeted to avoid widespread blackouts, according to plans filed Friday with the state.

Plans by the state's three largest investor-owned utilities said wildfire mitigation plans would build on efforts made last year to reduce the risk their equipment would cause deadly infernos.

The thrust of the plans is to expand vegetation trimming that can cause a fire when it strikes electrical equipment and fortify power lines to make them less likely to throw sparks or become vulnerable to fire damage.

The proposed plans filed with the California Public Utilities Commission were required by the state after a series of catastrophic fires blamed on utilities, including two in 2018 that killed more than 85 people and destroyed about 20,000 homes.

Fire conditions last fall led utilities to cut power to millions of customers, creating headaches that extended well beyond areas that were at risk of burning. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. was heavily criticized for not taking a more targeted approach.

Source: California utility wildfire prevention plans call for more blackouts

Prescribed burning is one of the main tools for fire management. Prescribed or hazard reduction burning is a deliberate, monitored fires conducted during off-seasons, aimed at clearing out flammable materials from precarious terrain. One of the main causes of massive wildfires in California is the governmental policies that preclude the controlled burning and removal of tinder dry shrub.

So if the utilities plans at vegetation trimming is implemented without hinderance by various levels of the California government, then perhaps this annual problem will be brought under control and the need to have massive electrical blackouts in the future.

The time to prepare for the next brush-fire season is during the off-season. That time is now!