Northern California Power Shutdowns

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storewanderer
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Re: Northern California Power Shutdowns

Post by storewanderer »

Alpha8472 wrote: October 24th, 2019, 5:47 pm More power shutdowns have begun and a fire still started anyway. There are massive power outages scheduled for Saturday. I do not know how people will deal with this again. Supermarkets, restaurants, and convenience stores already replaced their inventories. Now they are going to lose it again. Everytime the wind blows, the power is going to get shut down. These stores need to invest in generators.
I think Safeway got generators on a number of stores.

I am sure CA lawmakers will figure something out to address this issue. They have been solving many hot button issues lately. Banning small plastic bottles for shampoo in hotels, etc.

Frankly I see a state owned/controlled utility coming.

Maybe PG&E has an interest in the generator business.
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Re: Northern California Power Shutdowns

Post by Alpha8472 »

The bankrupt PG&E company says the power grid will take at least 10 years to fix. California businesses of all kinds are now planning to leave the state. There are many industries, factories, tech companies, drug companies, as well as retailers that are now saying they will leave due to the unreliable power grid.

This is a major problem that affects so many different companies. PG&E is bankrupt, so they do not have the money to invest in fixing the aging power grid. There are many supermarkets, stores, and restaurants that are barely hanging on as it is with the high price of labor in California. This is going to accelerate the retail closures in California.

Imagine supermarkets losing all of their refrigerated food multiple times throughout the summer and fall months. This is ridiculous.
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Re: Northern California Power Shutdowns

Post by BillyGr »

Alpha8472 wrote: October 26th, 2019, 1:30 pm Imagine supermarkets losing all of their refrigerated food multiple times throughout the summer and fall months. This is ridiculous.
Although that seems pretty easy to fix, as noted in other posts, by the store having its own power generation capacities for those (somewhat limited in the overall picture) times.

In the long run, they might actually make a bit extra unless all their customers also get generators, as people may be less likely to stock up on sales of those fresh/frozen items, not wanting to have to worry about keeping the items during these events, so they would then have to buy more at the regular prices.
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Re: Northern California Power Shutdowns

Post by Alpha8472 »

The power is still out, and more wind is expected. The power outages will drag on and the raging fires in Northern California continue. The air is filled with smoke and thousands are being evacuated. Water companies also say to conserve water as the pumping plants are out of power. We could run out of water.

There are multiple fires all over including the city next to mine. I had elderly relatives nearby that had to evacuate. The traffic lights are out and the nearby train stations have lost power. They had to bring in portable generators.

Some supermarkets with power will need to close when the water runs out or if the fires get too close. Interstate 80 in the Bay Area had to close due to random fires next to the freeway.

The streets are eerily empty as people do not want to be out with all the traffic lights out.

Walmarts with power are busy during the day, but empty at night as people do not want to go out when it is dark. Street lights are out. Large traffic jams are present on the freeways leading out of the fire areas.

There was also a 3.3 earthquake near the Kincade fire which is expanding.
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Re: Northern California Power Shutdowns

Post by Alpha8472 »

Second round of power outages began today. Some people have not had power since Saturday. In Humboldt, the power is out, gas stations have no gas, and supermarkets are closed. There is nowhere to get food. It is getting miserable out there.
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Re: Northern California Power Shutdowns

Post by Alpha8472 »

Power is finally coming back and PG&E is canceling previously planned outages. It was getting so bad that cell phone towers were running out of battery backup power. Cell phone service was going out. Cable internet is out too in some areas.

Do supermarkets need land based internet to run credit card transactions or do they use satellite? Safeway is notorious for not being able to ring anything up if the internet goes down.
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Re: Northern California Power Shutdowns

Post by rwsandiego »

Alpha8472 wrote: October 30th, 2019, 10:47 am Power is finally coming back and PG&E is canceling previously planned outages. It was getting so bad that cell phone towers were running out of battery backup power. Cell phone service was going out. Cable internet is out too in some areas.

Do supermarkets need land based internet to run credit card transactions or do they use satellite? Safeway is notorious for not being able to ring anything up if the internet goes down.
It would surprise me if they used satellite internet, as it is not as fast and is more expensive than land-based internet. The bank I work for uses land-based internet and works in "offline" mode when the internet goes down. "Offline" means we can accept a deposit, but can't check balances (requires a connection to the host), can cash small checks and dispense small amounts of cash (because without the ability to check balances we can't determine whether there are funds available or on deposit to cover the check), and ATMs can operate in "standby" mode dispensing small amounts of cash and maybe accept deposits.

The power outages have been extremely impactful. Checks can be accepted for deposit, but they have to be driven to another branch to image them. In some cases, checks at remote branches are being driven to locations 50 miles away. On top of that, the fires are causing branches to close when an area is evacuated. Of course, customers need cash but can't get it because power is out.
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Re: Northern California Power Shutdowns

Post by Alpha8472 »

Everything has gone back to normal in most areas except the area around the main Kincade fire. The mass migration of people from the North is going away. I was seeing many people camping out in Walmart parking lots, but they seem to gave gone away.

Supermarkets and other stores need to find alternative power sources. Many stores have solar panels, but they do not power stores. They send power to PG&E and in turn get a discount on power. Some gas stations have solar panels, but they also don't have power when the power goes out. The gas stations cannot operate when they are needed the most.

The threat of random fires was never around even 10 years ago. What has happened? My area was a normal suburban area, but in the past month winds caused power lines all over to fall and then there were random fires all over the area.
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Re: Northern California Power Shutdowns

Post by Alpha8472 »

Another round of power shut downs is beginning today for Northern California. The wind is currently 3 miles per hour where I am.

The power outages were announced and immediately there was backlash all over social media. Customers are enraged and businesses are also up in arms.

Then suddenly yesterday, PG&E reversed their decision and said that they are not shutting down power in several counties. There have been many restaurants, convenience stores, and supermarkets that have sued PG&E due to the repeated loss of all of their perishable food.

There will be shut downs in more rural areas and the counties with more restaurants and businesses will be spared.

Last time, the power was shut down and there were still multiple fires. Areas where the power was still on also did have random fires. The power shut downs are not necessary in every area.
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