-Elmo
Monday, February 08, 2021
9th Circuit Court of Appeals to Hear Utility Wildfire Bailout Case
After the Public Utilities Commission denied three Investor Owned Utilities in California – Pacific Gas and Electric, San Diego Gas and Electric, and Southern California Edison – the cost of wildfire repayments in 2019, the utilities filed a lawsuit in the Federal District Court in California and took it to the U.S. Supreme Court, claiming that their tens of billions in wildfire liabilities should be paid for by utility customers – despite that Cal Fire repeatedly found electric utility safety violations to be the cause of the wildfires which led to the tens of billions in liabilities.
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To those who decry the utility companies, I ask you to consider; do you trust the government more?
ReplyDeleteI have lived in CA for decades. I have been in commercial aviation for a while. I have contacts in aviation units of CalFire. The personnel are mostly top notch. But as a corporate body, I despise them. I would not trust them if said the sun rises in the east.
However, instead of rooting for sides, better is to read the actual evidence if one is so inclined.
Of course it's going to be paid for by utilities customers. Where do politicians think money comes from?
ReplyDeleteStep 1: Sue your electric company for Billions.
Step 2: Electric company raised prices or goes bankrupt.
Step 3: Repeat.
--Generic
The responsibility for the wildlife fires in California fall directly on the State for poor forest management at the behest of the treehuggers. BEFORE a fire is a problem, the dead wood and undergrowth needs to be removed and firebreaks of several hundred yards to up to a mile (depending on conditions) need to be cut to break up the forest in case a fire does start.
ReplyDeleteProper planning in this regard can greatly reduce the risk of a massive forest fire. It is impossible to eliminate all the sources of a forest fire (especially arson), so grooming the forest for limited burns if one does start is the best thing to do.
Fires are going to happen, stupid government management decisions happen everyday, Power companies ducking out on blame, always. What I find offensive is there is always a political weasel willing to provide cover and protect the insiders irregardless of how much normal people are damaged.
ReplyDeleteOne of my uncles was a town forester and parks commissioner. He had a degree in forest management science. He was a proponent of active forest management "by axe and fire". There was a public park (actually the town common from colonial days) near the center of town that had a nice lawn underneath about 16 trees that had been planted in the 1700's. As the trees grew and spread their canopy's the lawn died despite his best efforts to replant with grass developed for shade. He asked the city council to approve a plan to cut down the existing trees and replant so that they could be managed in away that allowed grass to grow. 'Course the tree huggers had to get involved. His plan was not approved. This was 50+ years ago. To this day that park is devoid of one blade of grass. The tree trunks get thicker by the year and the branches are so intertwined that it's actually dark under the canopy when the trees are in leaf.
ReplyDeleteNemo
That's also true of a closed canopy, old growth conifer forest. The ground underneath is basically a dead zone while the trees above have lived their productive lives and process (sequester) little carbon. In other words, these places are pretty to look at but provide little help in removing the carbon left behind by John Kerry's jet.
DeleteIf you want to see a living forest visit a 15 year old plantation or a second, third or fourth generation selective cut. That's where the fresh green sprouts are that feed the deer and the voles are that feed the Northern Spotted Owls.
To live and to die in the forest. One can die both ways, the forest abides. Always.
ReplyDelete