California has banned generators.

[buellistic]

We are in the same boat. Crap ton of wet heavy snow. I woke up at 3am on Monday morning to the sounds of oaks breaking and falling. Took the wife, kid, two dogs and cat to sleep in the basement bedroom. Woke up to an absolute shit show on our property. Wife’s car was narrowly missed by a big branch. My neighbors driveway was completely blocked by two large pines. He is stuck at work in Truckee but his elderly mother is staying with him for Christmas so I grabbed my saw and cleared the driveway for her. We are on day 3 with no power but the generator we use for our trailer does a good job of running our heater and some lights. We can shower and cook in our travel trailer. Although I don’t want to stay in it…a tin can doesn’t feel very safe when big oaks are falling. As LB said there is no time for power restoration. We will be lucky if it’s by the end of the week. I’m glad I don’t have to rely on solar and battery packs during these situations. PG&E and the sun are not reliable when the shit hits the fan.

As I write this, it’s still snowing. I found a local cafe with heat, internet, bottomless coffee and pastries, it’s my office for now.

I saw that yesterday. Almost All of Nevada County out of power..

Pge. Was supposed too cut All those trees that were going to fall on power lines over 5 years ago!...

 

[thepretender]

After losing power for 8 days last winter I've got plenty of gasoline for the generator and propane for heat. Have had 7 or 8 moments of lights going out for a split second and 1 power outage of 30 seconds. If good luck continues I'll have a couple of jugs of gas for my motorcycles After the snow melts that is.

Wonder if it's better to buy now and store or smuggle from out of state once the ban hits?

 

[littlebeast]

We are in the same boat. Crap ton of wet heavy snow. I woke up at 3am on Monday morning to the sounds of oaks breaking and falling. Took the wife, kid, two dogs and cat to sleep in the basement bedroom. Woke up to an absolute shit show on our property. Wife’s car was narrowly missed by a big branch. My neighbors driveway was completely blocked by two large pines. He is stuck at work in Truckee but his elderly mother is staying with him for Christmas so I grabbed my saw and cleared the driveway for her. We are on day 3 with no power but the generator we use for our trailer does a good job of running our heater and some lights. We can shower and cook in our travel trailer. Although I don’t want to stay in it…a tin can doesn’t feel very safe when big oaks are falling. As LB said there is no time for power restoration. We will be lucky if it’s by the end of the week. I’m glad I don’t have to rely on solar and battery packs during these situations. PG&E and the sun are not reliable when the shit hits the fan.

As I write this, it’s still snowing. I found a local cafe with heat, internet, bottomless coffee and pastries, it’s my office for now.

yeah - the oaks we lost are pretty far from the house, but our 3 biggest ponderosas (well over 100’ tall) are close enough that if any one of them came down, they’d take out the house. they are on a slope, so if they fell, that’s the direction they’d go. they shed the snow easier than the oaks though - so fingers crossed. clean-up after this is going to be an epic chore.

am curious also about your point re: solar. as i said previously, a neighbor went with the extra battery units rather than a propane generator. he’s a ways away, so haven’t had a chance to talk to him yet, but definitely want to ask him if it was sufficient.

@littlebeast and ridley

What elevation are you at?

I have a place in Calaveras County @ about 2800' and the power went out Monday plus I no longer have a neighbor to keep a eye on my place so I am kind of stressing until I can get back up there

we are at 2,700’

I saw that yesterday. Almost All of Nevada County out of power..

Pge. Was supposed too cut All those trees that were going to fall on power lines over 5 years ago!...

not sure how realistic it is that they could ever remove all of the hazards - the ponderosas can go 200’ - and if they are on a slope, all that weight can travel a lot farther than the height of the tree. that’d be a shit ton of clear cutting around all of the utilities. plus there’s still the issue of private property - they have no authority there. and then there’s mud / rock slides and vehicle accidents taking out poles (numerous of those events have also happened during this storm).

 

[buellistic]

not sure how realistic it is that they could ever remove all of the hazards - the ponderosas can go 200’ - and if they are on a slope, all that weight can travel a lot farther than the height of the tree. that’d be a shit ton of clear cutting around all of the utilities. plus there’s still the issue of private property - they have no authority there. and then there’s mud / rock slides and vehicle accidents taking out poles (numerous of those events have also happened during this storm).

4 years ago in alta Sierra. Grass valley I know a couple of home owners.
Pge came I'm cut down a bunch of ponderosa on private property and just left them there
For the home owners to clean up. Back then it was Cut and Run...
It seems to be mostly smaller oaks and pines this year falling.
Private property doesn't stop them....they have control all the way to your Meter!..
When they came to put a pole in at my house they left me a mess of tree branches to clean up..

 

[littlebeast]

4 years ago in alta Sierra. Grass valley I know a couple of home owners.
Pge came I'm cut down a bunch of ponderosa on private property and just left them there
For the home owners to clean up. Back then it was Cut and Run...
It seems to be mostly smaller oaks and pines this year falling.
Private property doesn't stop them....they have control all the way to your Meter!..
When they came to put a pole in at my house they left me a mess of tree branches to clean up..

as you may imagine - have been in constant contact with PG&E (one thing they are pretty good at is communication). for trees on private property, they will cut them only at the property owners request (permission / authorization required), and on a 'resources available' basis. and yes, they leave the wood for the property owner to clean up - they tell you this up front.

 

[Ridley]

yeah - the oaks we lost are pretty far from the house, but our 3 biggest ponderosas (well over 100’ tall) are close enough that if any one of them came down, they’d take out the house. they are on a slope, so if they fell, that’s the direction they’d go. they shed the snow easier than the oaks though - so fingers crossed. clean-up after this is going to be an epic chore.

am curious also about your point re: solar. as i said previously, a neighbor went with the extra battery units rather than a propane generator. he’s a ways away, so haven’t had a chance to talk to him yet, but definitely want to ask him if it was sufficient.



we are at 2,700’



not sure how realistic it is that they could ever remove all of the hazards - the ponderosas can go 200’ - and if they are on a slope, all that weight can travel a lot farther than the height of the tree. that’d be a shit ton of clear cutting around all of the utilities. plus there’s still the issue of private property - they have no authority there. and then there’s mud / rock slides and vehicle accidents taking out poles (numerous of those events have also happened during this storm).

My point about solar is its efficiency in these conditions is crap and it isn't reliable. The cost of enough batteries for prolonged outages that don't occur often enough to make the purchase worth it...isn't worth it. Honestly, we did look into solar and the cost of tree removal, the panels, batteries, and installation was preposterous. Not to mention the shaft by the utilities for plugging our system into the grid and the lifespan of the whole thing (20 years or less). Not a fan of having a second mortgage because that's basically what it would have cost. I get the whole pollution argument with generators and while I think the new rules are bad, I am hopeful that manufactures will develop cleaner generators and I will happily replace our current one for these infrequent outages and use in our travel trailer. That's all just my experience and opinion though.

To your point about PG&E and private property, they have the ROW an easement and federal and State mandates to keep vegetation clearances. The private property owner can complain all they want but PG&E has authority and will clear what is necessary. If for some reason the land owner makes a big stink and tries to delay removal, guess who pays for the damage/fire if their tree falls on the line while not allowing veg management crews to do their job...it won't be PG&E.

With that said, you are 100% correct, its an impossible task for them to clear every single hazard tree along thousands and thousands of miles of lines. Line inspections, internal reviews (biological, cultural), agency reviews, getting crews out to cut down the identified trees, mitigation, its all a monster task. If its one single tree or 5,000 trees it all goes through the same process.

 

[littlebeast]

My point about solar is its efficiency in these conditions is crap and it isn't reliable. The cost of enough batteries for prolonged outages that don't occur often enough to make the purchase worth it...isn't worth it. Honestly, we did look into solar and the cost of tree removal, the panels, batteries, and installation was preposterous. Not to mention the shaft by the utilities for plugging our system into the grid and the lifespan of the whole thing (20 years or less). Not a fan of having a second mortgage because that's basically what it would have cost. I get the whole pollution argument with generators and while I think the new rules are bad, I am hopeful that manufactures will develop cleaner generators and I will happily replace our current one for these infrequent outages and use in our travel trailer. That's all just my experience and opinion though.

To your point about PG&E and private property, they have the ROW an easement and federal and State mandates to keep vegetation clearances. The private property owner can complain all they want but PG&E has authority and will clear what is necessary. If for some reason the land owner makes a big stink and tries to delay removal, guess who pays for the damage/fire if their tree falls on the line while not allowing veg management crews to do their job...it won't be PG&E.

With that said, you are 100% correct, its an impossible task for them to clear every single hazard tree along thousands and thousands of miles of lines. Line inspections, internal reviews (biological, cultural), agency reviews, getting crews out to cut down the identified trees, mitigation, its all a monster task. If its one single tree or 5,000 trees it all goes through the same process.

WRT ROW / easement - the way i heard their feedback was that that applied to transmission lines, and doesn't apply to distribution lines. not sure how they allocate their resources, but recently found out a neighbor who lives about a 1/2 mile away is a heavy equipment trainer for them. heard this through someone else - he never mentioned it before (apparently doesn't commonly mention it due to the blowback he often hears). dude who told me said it's really fascinating to talk to him about it. am looking forward to the next time i see him.

 

[Ridley]

We got cell service back!!! Electricity is still a mystery though. Pro tip, put your refrigerated goods outside.

Another bright side, BBQ works and my kid loves hot dogs. Fireplace is going, life ain’t bad.

 

[Holeshot]

Pro tip, put your refrigerated goods outside.

Hahahaha! We've lost more than 1 turkey over the years using "God's fridge" at the mountain place. LOL...great advice, but man...them foxes and bears love that well cooked human snack!

 

[littlebeast]

We got cell service back!!! Electricity is still a mystery though. Pro tip, put your refrigerated goods outside.

Another bright side, BBQ works and my kid loves hot dogs. Fireplace is going, life ain’t bad.

we got notice that they have identified the source of our outage, and a crew is working on it.

love your ‘bright side’ like you, definitely feel that living in the foothills is worth the occasional inconvenience. but have to agree with berto on the outside food. we have lots of critters (a family of bears that live near a pond close by, a mountain lion that visits regularly, and lots of bobcats). can’t even put our garbage out the night before pickup day or it will get ransacked

on another note - one of the houses we looked at prior to buying where we did (foresthill) was in meadow vista. still love that area. we occasionally ride placer hills road from there past your neck of the woods up to colfax. found an AWESOME little hole in the wall pizza place in colfax that has the best calzone. once our bellies are full, we slab it back to foresthill road. we’ve only been up there for about a year - so much exploring yet to do - but LOVING IT! it’s breathtakingly beautiful - and the people are awesome! as is the food lol.

 

[wazzuFreddo]

We got cell service back!!! Electricity is still a mystery though. Pro tip, put your refrigerated goods outside.

Another bright side, BBQ works and my kid loves hot dogs. Fireplace is going, life ain’t bad.

Hahahaha! We've lost more than 1 turkey over the years using "God's fridge" at the mountain place. LOL...great advice, but man...them foxes and bears love that well cooked human snack!

The dirty 30s of Busch Light would always get thrown on to the deck to get iced down during those cold Pullman winters

 

[scratchpad]

Its hilarious to see the blame on PG&E when a natural disaster hits.

 

[Jammer]

^ I'm sure everyone in Paradise laughed along with you.

 

[scratchpad]

^ I'm sure everyone in Paradise laughed along with you.

can you tell the difference between a power outage caused by a natural disaster or a disaster caused from pg&e neglect.

 

[Sharxfan]

can you tell the difference between a power outage caused by a natural disaster or a disaster caused from pg&e neglect.

I think a lot of the issue is that the snow is amplifying the systemic maintenance neglect from PG&E. From the amount of money they charge for electricity California should have the best utility company around but it seems that the opposite is happening and it is more about maximizing profits and salaries than taking care of the customer.


I know my local Co-Op has learned multiple lessons from hurricanes/severe thunderstorms and they are out constantly trimming trees back from the power lines. I see tree trimming crews out year round. If your tree is growing over/around a power transmission line they will aggressively cut it back even if it makes the tree lopsided or funky looking. Even though they can't avoid all the damage and outages at least we know they are making the attempt.

 

[Ridley]

The dirty 30s of Busch Light would always get thrown on to the deck to get iced down during those cold Pullman winters

In college I could put beer and soda between the curtains and window of my dorm room and they would stay cold and sometimes freeze.

Holeshot, we have bears and foxes but none have ventured onto our deck, not yet anyway. In the past the jays have raided unattended food so now we put stuff in a cooler. I guess that would have been an important detail to add to my advice, use a cooler, it helps keep things cold dry and away from small critters.

 

[scratchpad]

I think a lot of the issue is that the snow is amplifying the systemic maintenance neglect from PG&E. From the amount of money they charge for electricity California should have the best utility company around but it seems that the opposite is happening and it is more about maximizing profits and salaries than taking care of the customer.

i agree somewhat. heavy snow will break down new crossarms and poles from adjacent facilities breaking. domino affect.


[/QUOTE]
I know my local Co-Op has learned multiple lessons from hurricanes/severe thunderstorms and they are out constantly trimming trees back from the power lines. I see tree trimming crews out year round. If your tree is growing over/around a power transmission line they will aggressively cut it back even if it makes the tree lopsided or funky looking. Even though they can't avoid all the damage and outages at least we know they are making the attempt.

[/QUOTE]

pg&e's main focus since the Napa fires, iirc (dont quite remember the exact timeline), has been on contracted tree crews year round beck and call. Most recently it has been on highly sensitive device settings during fire season.

 

[Sharxfan]

In college I could put beer and soda between the curtains and window of my dorm room and they would stay cold and sometimes freeze.

Holeshot, we have bears and foxes but none have ventured onto our deck, not yet anyway. In the past the jays have raided unattended food so now we put stuff in a cooler. I guess that would have been an important detail to add to my advice, use a cooler, it helps keep things cold dry and away from small critters.

Make sure you use a Yeti aren't they supposedly bear proof?

 

[Ridley]

Make sure you use a Yeti aren't they supposedly bear proof?

We use a Pelican cooler, it’s supposed to be bear proof.

 

[wazzuFreddo]

PG&E neglected a lot of maintenance for a lot of years, the money for that maintenance was sent up the chain to shareholders and executives.

The weather causes some of these outages but the long term neglect amplifies it.