California Is Burning--Nationalize PG&E

[G_j]

https://bit.ly/2BSBydi

California’s utility, PG&E, has put profits over public safety for too long. The company belongs in the hands of the people.

We knew it would happen and it did. California is on fire again. As of Wednesday morning, more than 100,000 acres were burning in a dozen separate blazes. When the governor declared a statewide emergency on Sunday, nearly 200,000 people had been ordered to evacuate their homes in Sonoma County and another 50,000 in Santa Clarita, just north of Los Angeles. Thousands more have been ordered out of their homes in LA, the East Bay, Napa, and Marin. This counts as normal now: just another smoky autumn in the Anthropocene. Mix hot dry winds with abundant crisp, parched brush, add capitalism, and watch a whole state burn.

The disaster had a prequel this year: darkness before flame. On October 9, Pacific Gas and Electric, the country’s largest investor-owned utility—an industry term that means they don’t give a shit about you—preemptively cut power to 738,000 California households, leaving more than 2 million people in the dark, many of them for days, some of them without warning. The utility’s website kept crashing, its phone lines were understaffed, and the maps it prepared of areas affected by the blackout were, admitted CEO Bill Johnson, “inconsistent and maybe incorrect.” But PG&E had little choice, averred Johnson: During fire season, one downed electricity line could easily spark an inferno. Of course, PG&E has for decades been repeatedly fined and sued for failing to inspect and maintain its own lines, causing fires that have killed dozens, left thousands homeless, and burned hundreds of thousands acres. In January, facing tens of billions of dollars in lawsuits over wildfires caused by its own neglected infrastructure, the company declared bankruptcy.

And now, it seems, they’ve done it again. The largest of the fires currently raging appears to have been sparked by a downed jumper wire on a PG&E transmission tower near the Sonoma county town of Geyserville. (“We still at this point do not know exactly what happened,” offered CEO Johnson.) That fire has now spread over more than 76,000 acres, and PG&E has cut power to another 2 million people, infinitely compounding the danger of the fires with blackouts of unprecedented scope. Without electricity, cell phone service goes down, as do some landlines. Emergency workers can’t communicate. Residents don’t know to evacuate.

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[alwaysinasnit]

1. Having been through this myself, although without loss, I can tell you that this situation sucks .

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10181276438

[maxsolomon]

2. Privatize the profits, socialize the cost?

No thanks.

Make them FIX their negligence, then make it public.

[Xolodno]

3. I was at an insurance conference not to long ago.

One of the speakers was from Swiss Re, in regard to the wild fires; "The insurance companies and reinsurance companies keep telling electric utilities to bury the power lines underground in high risk areas instead of having them up on towers causing fires. Their response; It costs too much. When you look at the cost to insurers and re insurers, who then pass that down in the form of higher Premiums to their customers, the cost of municipalities and the state in firefighting and law enforcement infrastructure, the loss of life and personal property and of course, PG&E is now bankrupt...Its obviously more expensive not to bury the power lines.

[marlakay]

4. I was told by Farmers

That my home insurance went up extra this year because they average it all over America not where i live.

So really when disasters happen no matter where, we all pay.

[Xolodno]

6. That's true...but not all of it.

State's have regulations that cap the amount insurers can spread around, despite the industry wanting to be regulated at the Federal Level, it obviously hasn't happened. So North Dakota can limit how much they take from Florida. Some even refuse to take any of the burden as they are not "CAT Prone", but most will allow it because insurers will then refuse to operate there, leaving the state to absorb it all...with massive deductibles...which is very adverse for economic development. But it has left a disparity, for example, insurers have long wanted a Regional Hurricane fund that stretches from Maine down to Florida, then to Texas and then jumps to San Diego. Hasn't happened because New Jersey scoffs of the idea of paying for South Carolina's disasters, for example. Its ALWAYS used as an election ploy..."<insert politician> states their opponent wants Florida to pay for Oregon's volcanoes"

Some of it is even shared globally via re-insurers. What happens there is the insurer cedes some of the premium to a re-insurer, who has a treaty with the insurer to pick up the tab after a certain threshold. For example, say in a disaster, the main insurer is on the hook for the first 200 million...after that, the re-insurer picks up the tab. ...they then spread that cost across the globe with other insurance companies they re insure. So yeah, in a way, your also paying for a tsunami in South East Asia.

But this is all usually a small part due to state regulations. So after a huge fire in California, an insurer then files for a 5% rate hike, no big deal. But where its applied to, makes a huge difference. Urban non fire zone homeowner who pays 1000 a year in premium see's no increase, you think it should go up 50 bucks because of the increase, right? Nope, the insurer decides to apply that rate increase entirely to the disaster area...and their 1000 dollar premium goes up to 1500.

In short, Joe Schmoe in Kansas might be pissed off that he's paying for the wild fires in California, but so is Jane Wayne in California for paying for Tornado's in Kansas. And Ron Don in North Dakota is pissed he's paying for both.

[Opel_Justwax]

5. LOL. Nationalize PG&E won't stop the fires

They will continue unless the State of California receives Fall rains again that will decrease the ability of wild fires to spread rapidly with no possibility of control.

[Xolodno]

9. Nationalizing the utilities itself won't do that itself.

However, the Real Costs would be compared better. The private utilities look at costs to their immediate company, not to the state, other insurers, etc. And so, when the option of burying power lines comes up, which would stop a lot of fires, they decline because it costs too much to the company. But doesn't look at it from the cost of the state, taxpayers, insurers, etc.

[Joe941]

7. Absolutely agree. Bernie will take us there too.

[Takket]

8. shoking to hear the company that brought us Erin Brockovich has integrity issues still