Let's hope this thread is short on Bay Area Fire Season

[byke]

One problem with all these new safer chemistries is that making them better, means lowering internal resistance to bump their discharge rates, but that just moves them closer to the same problems as with li-ion. I like the 1C LifePo4's just as they are.

 

[Brokenlink]

So much misinformation regarding undergrounding. Let me clarify a few things. I work in the undergrounding department at your favorite utility. PGE undergrounded over 250 miles of lines last year. It goal for this year is 350. It's insanely expensive. The construction costs are just a fraction. While maintaining overhead lines is a pain in the ass, for the most part they have existing easements. Almost all undergrounding needs new easements. This takes a huge amount of time and money. Every single property owner must sign a new easement. Many hate PGE and refuse. Each time that happens, they have to redesign the project. Each redesign involves engineers to draw the changes, people to review and approve the changes, and an entire environmental team to review the design.

Then PGE has to pay people for the easement. This can be thousands of dollars PER PROPERTY. Then you have county permits, agency permittIng, etc etc etc.

1 million a mile is about right. They aren't inflating these costs to raise rates. PGE does not want to raise rates any more than you want them raised. They are trying to repair their reputation, not continue to be hated.

We get guns pulled on us. Last week our customer outreach lady got bit by a dog. It's not as simple as putting a rock wheel down and going. For a two year project, construction takes about two weeks. The rest is design, environmental review, permitting, and getting land rights. It is not a simple thing.

Now go ahead and tell me how horrible we all are and how it's all a scam.

 

[GAJ]

i don’t know enough about it to comment further. my only experience is a couple of local parks departments asked for the poles they were taking down (to use for sports field lighting). offered to purchase them. we took the request to PG&E, and were told that they couldn’t do it because of the creosote, and they had to be disposed of as hazardous waste. otherwise, they would have gladly given them away.

Went up to my friends rebuilt home yesterday and they noticed PGE replacing some poles and asked if they could have the two poles and were told yes they could.

The crew were thrilled not to have to cut up the poles and take them to (I'm assuming) a toxic landfill of some sort.

They dropped them over the fence on my friends property using a huge machine.

They will use them to create a bridge over a stream on their property on Franz Valley Road as the prior on was burned up in the Tubbs fire.

Here is a photo of the upper part of their stream after some rain last year. The burned trees were removed by a crew they hired.

 

[GAJ]

From a letter to the editor in today's Press Democrat.

So, the governor is calling for an investigation into the water supply in Los Angeles (“A Pacific Palisades reservoir was offline when fire struck,” Jan. 11). As a retired fire chief, I could save him the trouble: 10,000 severed water supply connections to burned-out structures free-flowing into the street at a conservative flow rate of 10 gallons a minute is 100,000 gallons lost from the system per minute. No system could successfully provide an adequate firefighting water supply with that big of a leak.

The only city in California that learned from a disaster like this is San Francisco. While rebuilding after the 1906 earthquake, they installed a dedicated water system for firefighting use only. That system protects the city today.

This disaster in Los Angeles could be an opportunity to install a system like that in the really fire-prone areas and get federal money to help pay for it, but they won’t. They will spend money on an investigation that makes the governor look like he is doing something.

 

[Climber]

So much misinformation regarding undergrounding. Let me clarify a few things. I work in the undergrounding department at your favorite utility. PGE undergrounded over 250 miles of lines last year. It goal for this year is 350. It's insanely expensive. The construction costs are just a fraction. While maintaining overhead lines is a pain in the ass, for the most part they have existing easements. Almost all undergrounding needs new easements. This takes a huge amount of time and money. Every single property owner must sign a new easement. Many hate PGE and refuse. Each time that happens, they have to redesign the project. Each redesign involves engineers to draw the changes, people to review and approve the changes, and an entire environmental team to review the design.

Then PGE has to pay people for the easement. This can be thousands of dollars PER PROPERTY. Then you have county permits, agency permittIng, etc etc etc.

1 million a mile is about right. They aren't inflating these costs to raise rates. PGE does not want to raise rates any more than you want them raised. They are trying to repair their reputation, not continue to be hated.

We get guns pulled on us. Last week our customer outreach lady got bit by a dog. It's not as simple as putting a rock wheel down and going. For a two year project, construction takes about two weeks. The rest is design, environmental review, permitting, and getting land rights. It is not a simple thing.

Now go ahead and tell me how horrible we all are and how it's all a scam.

You're very defensive about PG&E, but you have to understand it from our side, PG&E was rotten for decades and everybody knew it. Now you have a new CEO who has made promises, but we've all heard promises before, that is nothing new.

I'm glad to hear what you're saying, but you also have to understand that it will take time before PG&E can gain the trust back from the people, from our side we don't see what you see every day at work, we see our rates still going up at a fast pace, we know that PG&E has and is changing the calculations for those of us who have solar and those who will be getting solar. From the outside, we can only see what's happening to us and the solar thing is not a good sign.

I truly hope that PG&E has changed their culture at the top, I've always had respect for the people who do the work, it is a hard job they do. What will take time is for the general population to trust the people at the top, you can't erase decades of very shitty actions with just a couple years of (largely unseen, by the public) internal changes.

Time will tell, for both sides.

 

[Brokenlink]

Whatever dude. I was correcting information posted in this thread about undergrounding. I'm not interested in dancing your dance.

 

[Climber]

It's not 'my dance', it's the perspective of the vast majority of the population in this state.

I appreciate your input, both in your corrections and in the changes you describe internally.

 

[Brokenlink]

I highly suggest you read the book "California Burning". It tells the story of pges incompetence and whatnot. It's not flattering to PGE. PGE has used this book as a tool to guide their future.

 

[budman]

Yes... thanks Mike.

In todays world getting the approval to do the "work" takes more work than the "Work". Good and bad really, but the way it is.

Hope they get the Moss Landing fire shut down quickly.

 

[Agent Orange]

Friend of mine is a hazmat inspector. He routinely does fire areas and says you absolutely do not want to be digging around burn sites without PPE. There's all kinds of toxic shit leftover from structure fires.

Makes me think whats currently in my house.. cleaning agents, bleach, paint, lead, plastics, copper, fiberblass, blehhh

 

[wazzuFreddo]

I highly suggest you read the book "California Burning". It tells the story of pges incompetence and whatnot. It's not flattering to PGE. PGE has used this book as a tool to guide their future.

That’s a good book. The chapters that cover the time period I worked at PG&E are spot on.

 

[littlebeast]

Went up to my friends rebuilt home yesterday and they noticed PGE replacing some poles and asked if they could have the two poles and were told yes they could.

The crew were thrilled not to have to cut up the poles and take them to (I'm assuming) a toxic landfill of some sort.

They dropped them over the fence on my friends property using a huge machine.

They will use them to create a bridge over a stream on their property on Franz Valley Road as the prior on was burned up in the Tubbs fire.

Here is a photo of the upper part of their stream after some rain last year. The burned trees were removed by a crew they hired.

before they do anything with them, i would suggest your friend call PG&E and ask them about the poles. especially if they plan on cutting them, and especially if they plan to use them where they can leach into water.

 

[GAJ]

before they do anything with them, i would suggest your friend call PG&E and ask them about the poles. especially if they plan on cutting them, and especially if they plan to use them where they can leach into water.

The old bridge never touched the water even after heavy rains.

Largely because they used the whole pole as a bridge to support their quad well above the 2 foot wide in summer (if that) and 8 foot wide in winter stream.

And they are old poles so no new material to wash off due to rain.

 

[Killroy1999]

So much misinformation regarding undergrounding. Let me clarify a few things. I work in the undergrounding department at your favorite utility. PGE undergrounded over 250 miles of lines last year. It goal for this year is 350. It's insanely expensive. The construction costs are just a fraction. While maintaining overhead lines is a pain in the ass, for the most part they have existing easements. Almost all undergrounding needs new easements. This takes a huge amount of time and money. Every single property owner must sign a new easement. Many hate PGE and refuse. Each time that happens, they have to redesign the project. Each redesign involves engineers to draw the changes, people to review and approve the changes, and an entire environmental team to review the design.

Then PGE has to pay people for the easement. This can be thousands of dollars PER PROPERTY. Then you have county permits, agency permittIng, etc etc etc.

1 million a mile is about right. They aren't inflating these costs to raise rates. PGE does not want to raise rates any more than you want them raised. They are trying to repair their reputation, not continue to be hated.

We get guns pulled on us. Last week our customer outreach lady got bit by a dog. It's not as simple as putting a rock wheel down and going. For a two year project, construction takes about two weeks. The rest is design, environmental review, permitting, and getting land rights. It is not a simple thing.

Now go ahead and tell me how horrible we all are and how it's all a scam.

But think how good that is for the economy.

Good Jobs.

LOL

 

[CDONA]

Another news feed about Moss Landing Fire,

Fire rages at Vistra battery storage facility in Moss Landing

By KAREN VELIE A fire is raging at the Vistra battery storage facility in Moss Landing leading to evacuations and school and road closures in the area. Shortly after 3 p.m. on Thursday, the fire br…

calcoastnews.com

They are trying to install a battery bank twice as big as Moss Landing in Morro Bay,
The locals don't want it, Vestra is bypassing MB and going to the state for permission to build.

 

[Mike95060]

A Texas energy company having issues. Wow. Who would have thunk.

 

[Holeshot]

I highly suggest you read the book "California Burning". It tells the story of pges incompetence and whatnot. It's not flattering to PGE. PGE has used this book as a tool to guide their future.

Great post on the undergrounding Mike. Thanks for that. I've got a new(er) entity w/ topside pole work. Different world doesn't come close to describing it.

 

[budman]

Caught this on the Moss Landing fire.. from yesterday, but holy fuuuuk.

 

[Brokenlink]

It's not 'my dance', it's the perspective of the vast majority of the population in this state.

I appreciate your input, both in your corrections and in the changes you describe internally.

The reference to "your dance" has nothing to do with this thread. I have no interest in playing into your standard game (the dance), whereupon you do everything you can to be inflammatory and create drama. Then when I react to it, you put your hand over your mouth, clutch your pearls, and cry foul. It's a very choreographed affair that you have perfected well. I just don't really enjoy the dance or the song it's played to, so I will kindly decline your invitation.

 

[gixxerjeff]

I highly suggest you read the book "California Burning". It tells the story of pges incompetence and whatnot. It's not flattering to PGE. PGE has used this book as a tool to guide their future.

Much to their credit.
I respect what you do, Mike.
I consider you to be on "our" side.
I, for one, am glad we have people like you doing this type of work.
That's all.