The New Normal

Recently California utilities such as PG&E were given approval to shut off electricity to customers if they feel there is a risk of a wildfire.  If there are high temperatures, low humidity, and windy conditions PG&E can shut off power to hundreds of thousands of customers with not a lot of advance notice.  CA utilities given green light to turn off power.

Within a week they did it.  PG&E cuts power in N. CA.  Power was turned off for multiple days to homeowners as well as businesses.  I believe this is the new normal at least in the Western U.S.  Other states out West will begin to adopt this policy so that they are not liable for their transformers or power lines causing fires and resulting in damage.  Without much warning customers will have power turned off for days and possibly weeks.  There will be a need for everyone to have backup power in order to have electricity for phones, laptops, refrigerators, and for some people life saving oxygen machines.  Most have nothing, some have gas generators, but you cannot pump gas if the service station does not have power.

Also, the age of the power grid needs to be factored in as well.  What happened recently in Venezuela, where the whole country was without power for a week, and some places almost a month.  Venezuela power outage 2019.  And then again more recently in Argentina where it spread to Uruguay and Paraguay.  Argentina power outage 2019.  These kind of events can happen in the U.S. as well.

​The motto is always be prepared.