Living in Third-World America

This is a curious page three story, and you have to sit and think about the implications.

So out in California, after the big fire from last year....a fine was established to Pacific Gas and Electric because of their contribution to the fire.  This amounted to $1.5 billion.

PG&E stood up now and said fine....but they are now going to a proactive stance and cutting off power in various regions, IF a red-flag situation exists because of potential wind and threats.

Saturday saw the first episode....1,600 customers/households were affected.  All in the area north of San Francisco (Solao, Yolo and Napa counties.  How long?  No one says much but I would take a guess that weather will be monitored and the wind velocity will play the key role.  You might be talking about six hours of downtime.....maybe on up to twelve hours.

Now, if you were a customer and facing this as a routine situation (where power might be cut for six hours at least three times a month)....you'd start to think of your situation as being a bit dire.  You don't exactly live in a first-world country anymore.  You might go to buy a $700 generator to provide electrical back-up and expect to spend at least $1k a year in fuel if you live in a heavily affected area.

Likely to influence people into leaving or moving?  I might have patience to play this game for a year or two, but eventually.....I'd just give up and leave California.