posted ago by AWES
+3000 / -0
It's hot as fuck right now. I'm planning to sleep outside tonight which sounds nice, but it's been super smoky, too. It could all be worse, for sure, but it doesn't make it right that mismanagement of funding and energy expenditure coupled with inadequate and outdated grid tech fuck everyone over. This happened last year and A LOT of people lost A LOT of food and had to suffer extreme heat. Gavin Newsom is a loser. I hope he gets recalled. California needs to make many HUGE changes to improve average people's lives. Fuck LA/Pedowood and Bay Area.
It's hot as fuck right now. I'm planning to sleep outside tonight which sounds nice, but it's been super smoky, too. It could all be worse, for sure, but it doesn't make it right that mismanagement of funding and energy expenditure coupled with inadequate and outdated grid tech fuck everyone over. This happened last year and A LOT of people lost A LOT of food and had to suffer extreme heat. Gavin Newsom is a loser. I hope he gets recalled. California needs to make many HUGE changes to improve average people's lives. Fuck LA/Pedowood and Bay Area.
Comment I made about this earlier on twitter:
"Hurrdurr we're California the 5th largest economy in the world we don't need the United States we could be our own country" - on that $40bln a year subsidy known as US Foreign Aid, maybe.
They're “monsters” that “kill many bald eagles,” ruin the visual appeal of “magnificent” farms and fields, and “look like hell” after 10 years but since it's windy they can just use their half million wind turbines.
If you've got one of these in your backyard your property prices will fall 75%
I wonder what not having electricity does for property values?
Yeah the little fun ones that fit on your hat. Not a 50 story tower
My brother owns a small house on a huge piece of farmland in Upstate NY, about 20 years ago he made a deal with a company looking for space to place a few of them. The yearly fee they were paying him was CRAZY. He likes Windmills lol.
I like watching them explode
Take a trip to Holland. They have real windmills there.
This whole last Presidential cycle has gotten me to think about certain things that I hadn't before, or, in a way I hadn't before. I never thought about the federal money that states receive. Without that money, it really changes things.
That said, The U.S. asks the FED for more money.. The whole country is getting a handout from the banksters.
that's not quite how the FED works
Here's a video with Ron Paul
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGLUKC3XfhY
Also consider that The Fed is PRIVATELY owned, with Citibank being the largest shareholder. The same Citibank that decided Obama's cabinet posts.
Thank God for Wikileaks
I've read all of the Podesta emails and DNC leaks. I'm surprised that reality was actually worse than I imagined.
And I don't think for a minute that a hypothetical RNC Leaks email set would be any more comforting.
For real, half of me wishes they would. It's been an idea I've had for a while. We kick out Commiefornia because they openly say they don't want to be American, cut all economic contact in or out, impose isolation on them so they are forced to make it on their own (lol), and give every patriot exactly one year to move out of CA, and every Commie the exact amount of time to immigrate to California.
After that, we invite in the Territories to join us, hash something out, and watch the shitshow from the safe side of the fence.
calipede here
just give us a week for me and every other patriot to don our leathers
Thunderdome last a few days and we'll give the all clear
Fair enough. A whole statewide thunderdome that would be prime entertainment.
Fuck no.
We take back California because we don't bargain with traitors or terrorists.
Establish that the federal government is watching and while states rights may be a thing, they are under watch.
Please let us bail out first! Retirement is just around the corner!
CA is the breadbasket of produce for the country. Southern CA relies on the Colorado river for water, which flows out of NV. If we try to secede, the US will cut off our water supply, and in turn all our produce will die and it will be a situation of mutual destruction.
So you grow the only things im capable of growing on my windowsill?
Southern California relies on water from the Colorado river, which comes out of Nevada. If CA, or at least Southern CA, tries to break away from the US, they'll cut our water off.
This is war. It's 4th generation warfare but make no mistake, it's war. Unfortunately I have a house rented in that hell hole that I have to go back to to at least get my stuff. I strongly recommend trying to get out of there if you can. I'm already in the process of doing that and currently away from there
Thought about it in the past and have been again. Where I live is a lot different than the city, though. I love it here, but there are definitely a HOST of issues that lead me to ponder that move.
At the end of the day, the government of your state isn't representative of you. You can stay and fight the uphill fight to have your and others like you opinions heard, or you can move to a state where you are represented. That's a choice you have to make. I live in MD, and am saving to move by this time next year out of this region. My county and state government don't give a fuck about me or my beliefs / opinions. So why should I continue to give them my tax dollars for the rest of my life?
Fellow Calipede, I’m in the middle of the #CreekFire right now, cussing out Brown, Newsome and every worthless POS “lawmaker” in Sacramento. All last week, all they could talk about with giddy glee is how they rushed to get Scott WEINER’S new law passed to let pedophiles off the hook if their victim was “only” 10 years younger than them. Meanwhile this state is literally burning to the ground with rolling brownouts and power outages. We are, for the third time this summer, on evacuation stand by. We live in a gorgeous area, just unbelievable scenery and wildlife, but counting the days until we can move out of this retched Democrat controlled state.
Damn.. Yeah, power went out at 10 last night. Now, everyone is running a generator. lol..
Where you moving?
I grew up in Bakersfield and left at age 22 for Midwest. Best decision I ever made. The Midwest is awesome man.
i wish they had rules that CA residents could never vote in another state again, you retards have turned that place to shit and now will spread out and vote for (slightly) less retarded shit elsewhere and ruin those as well, as you're all already doing
You realize that the people on this site MOST likely didn’t vote for any of that and got overruled by the mob, right? Don’t group us in with the “you retards”
Right right, but you see his point.. if there were some way to keep the actual retards from moving to a red state and voting for the same insane policies.... That would be nice! 👍
We ALL know that Cali-pedes are not retards; they're just surrounded by retards! 😀
On the flip side, there’s nothing keeping people from coming to California either. Which they have, by the millions.
What happens when millions of emigrants come to a place where they have no connection to the people or the culture? They fucking destroy it.
People like to act as if California is the cause of all this, but we’re just as much of a victim of this mob as all of you may eventually be. We’re just the first to fall, and like a diseased corpse we’re now passing it along to wherever the maggots crawl off to.
i aqree, my hometown and cities around them are over 50% non native people and their votes dont mean shit now
Ummm honey.......you do realize we’re here on the Win because we’re conservatives right?
I moved from Bay Area to red state this week. I have an American flag hat I wear everywhere.
I legitimately feared wearing that hat in SF and now I wear it to let people know I’m not a bitch from CA coming to ruin their state.
its more like people who are brainwashed vote like that, i moved 10 years ago 6 hours north of bay area to get away from crazies and have a farm... now i just need to aim my gun south
Sadly it's not PG&E. It's the fact that the government of California sued them after last year's fires.
Their only choice is to plead lower consumption on the lines and hope for less fire.
I have no love for utility companies. IMHO they need to be broken up even more.
But you are correct. When California sued PG&E for the fires a few years ago because they did not want to admit their piss poor forestry management was a key factor. And with the assistance of liberal judges they won the law suit.
PG&E's response was very predictable & logical. OK, when the grid gets overloaded, to prevent power line sag and risk to fire, we will have rolling black outs.
PG&E, State and Local governments could have done many things to alleviate this. But politics got in the way.
This thread should be higher up. Corruption is in play no doubt but PGE was forced to pay record amounts for that fiasco
Gavin 'Green Lives Matter' Newsome cares more about trees than he cares about the people of CA.
Nah not even that. If he cares about trees (and understood how fires work) he'd start clearing out the dead trees and brush in the forests. Apparently, that's racist or something.
And before that, CA's renewable energy mandate forced PG&E to divert money from line maintenance and replacement into new, less efficient power generation.
PG&E is just scapegoat for CPUC. All PG&E's major decisions (ie: capital investment) have to be approved by CPUC. PG&E is not allowed to do any decision by itself.
In a previous rate case before the tragic Paradise fire, that killed 88 people, PG&E asked to replace that very old section of power lines. The PUC rejected their request. This was a large part of the defense from PG&E but it was determined they were still lax on their maintenance.
While true PG&E were sued, it is still their fault. They make A LOT of money and failed to modernize power infrastructure to withstand adverse weather conditions and consumption demand. Now, after being sued, PG&E are FINALLY forced to modernize the grid, but it will be many years before it's brought up to a standard coefficient with the demands of the population.
Until then, power safety outages will be implemented until power lines are buried or modernized to withstand heavy winds.
Well to be fair, they didn't modernize anything because of the dumb regulations California has and the environmental issues that keep being brought up.
On top of that, the California government sued the shit out of them because of forest fires from brush that the state refused to clean up because they felt it would be bad for the ecosystem.
The whole system is corrupt and the blame isn't only with PG&E.
That fire was caused by infrastructure that was put up in the 1920's. That was the most insane thing I had ever heard. They need to hire some deplorables from fly over country that can show them how to manage and maintain land/infrastructure.
I know lineman that go out east after ice storms and hurricanes. They tell me the union lineman out there hate it when they show up. Tons of power grid problems never fixed to keep them overtime hours flowing.
Modernize? Our closet sub station is running on back up generators! I’m in the dark for about 48 hours. Our generator is running but no A/C.
PG&E has killed too many people here because of their negligence.
I lived through the Tubbs and Kincade fires. Just had two more heading our way recently. It’s out of control here!
You are so right! They shut us down for 6 days last October due to winds. Welcome to Venezuela!
PG&E’s infrastructure is massive.
So it’s not really as easy as saying “modernize your infrastructure.” For instance they’re only cutting off power to parts of California and just those areas account for about 25,000 miles of grid lines.
Just to improve the grid in rural areas, where the fires tend to occur, would cost between $50-100 billion dollars.
It needs to be a joint venture where PG&E improves the grid in the highest risk areas, while the localities handle cleanup for fire suppression in foothill communities at the highest risk.
Now if we can just get the environmentalists out of the way, they’re usually the biggest roadblock to a rational outcome.
Exactly this.
It’s unbelievably hot here in Florida and we’ve only ever lost power due to strong storms rolling through. Way too hot to sleep outside. If we had rolling blackouts, I would move my ass out of here ASAP. The end.
That's because Florida is pro nuclear and over half it's production is nuclear. Plus tons of solar, natural gas, and coal. Plus Florida has multiple power companies and no monopoly controls the whole grid there.
FL Resident checking on - on top of all of the above - FL is also the Hurricane capital of the world and our building standards are nearly 2nd to none (Japan vs. Earthquakes has entered the chat).
Lots of standards are built around getting hit by Cat4's regularly. -including line clearing standards. When the power goes out now it's a really bad storm.
CA is a fucking joke. (Lived in LA for a time)
He is right you know . It's horrible here . Mississippi is real nice and safe .
Yeah, we flyover states are really nice.
These dang windmills not working here either
Texas pede here.
We have our own power grid.
It's wonderful.
Florida may have a significant percentage generated by nuclear plants, but it's not over half:
https://www.chooseenergy.com/data-center/nuclear-generation-by-state/
Percentage-wise, Florida isn't even in the top 10. The lowest on that list is Alabama, at 30%.
This is from 2019, but says 11.8% of electricity generated in Florida is nuclear:
https://www.nei.org/resources/fact-sheets/florida
Weird, I was going off this chart: https://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=FL#tabs-3 which shows over half of production being nuclear. But now looking at it again there's another tab for electricity generation. I wonder if they don't consider Natural Gas to be native production, just consumption? Either way looks like Nat gas is the main source in Florida.
I think you figured out the difference. The tab you linked is for energy production, in BTUs. It includes crude oil.
South Louisiana here. I relate to your post FL Pede. We have never had rolling blackouts. I have only ever lost power due to a storm.
LOL, Cali... Vote republican and watch the lights come back on!
we try but more democrats keep moving to california...
No power? Hmmm... sounds very.... progressive.
Q: What did socialists use to light their houses before candles?
A: Electricity.
I’m down for around 48 hours they say, generator up and running.
Spewing gas fumes everywhere! How fucking green! Everyone in our neighborhood has their generator going. Sucking up fossil fuels and shitting out pollution. Great job you idiot environment wackos!
Fellow Californian here. Temperature sucks shit. Power infrastructure sucks shit. Wildfire prevention sucks cock. I swear they deliberately sabotage fire control to have an excuse to fuck with the citizenry. Like, what shit can we get people to accept next? These useless government fuckers need to be tossed in the sea.
Yup.. 100. I feel like after last year, PG&E and the Gov were forced to act.. I think they are in action to fix things now (I've seen the construction/modernization) but it's still gonna take forever. (Ever drive by and see 6 guys watching 4 guys work? Caltrans, PG&E...) My idea is that local communities need to become independent of PG&E. Community owned utilities make for stronger communities and the power companies (being smaller) are more accountable.
SDG&E is just as bad. Constant outages, and they basically tell you "You're not on the list to get your power shut off, but we can't guarantee that your power won't be shut off." Worthless.
That's a typical union mentality. Here in PA we have an old joke: what's yellow and sleeps 6? A PENNDOT truck. Funny but sad because it's true
Their entire doctrine is to gain power through chaos. If you think it's NOT intentional then I don't know what to say haha
funny how the news doesn't talk about mass fires around humboltd county, trinity county and others... its only our national forest
Invest in a generator. We live in Los Angeles and bought one to deal with LA DWP outages.
Set up a bare bones solar array, modular if possible. They have become surprisingly affordable and can supplement what can't be run on the generator.
Still cant run a air conditioner on solar unless you get a yuge and expensive set up.
Yup. A standard HVAC is the energy hog of the house.
Evaporative units (swamp coolers) could be powered off an array. And some mini-split or portable units can be run on solar panels. Powering on the system takes the most energy; consumption drops probably 15% to 35% once the unit is operating.
Regular A/C units can also be fitted with a "soft start" kit that will reduce the spike in demand for power when they kick on.
I've heard of that. Good idea since not every component needs to start at the same instant.
Have you seen the new Tesla roofs?
Each roof tile is a solar panel. Supposed to be durable as fuck, enough to allow you to step on them.
Technology has not advanced far enough to bring down the price point on those yet.
Yeah got a quote for 96k to do a roof in solar tiles + power walls. Nope, I'll pay line rates for a few decades more.
I was gonna get one last year, but ended up getting by without. Been planning to buy one for this time that I knew would come and kept putting it off. I'm probably gonna go get one tmrw.
Always good to have a generator.
And hope the winds are calmer than anticipated. Maybe yesterday, one weather reporter mentioned Santa Ana winds for part of Southern California but I haven't heard the recent report.
Will there be any left?
We are in nor cal, my generator is currently up and running. Great investment and a must for everyone here in California.
Had ours wired into the power panel. Just plug it into the house and then you can get most things up and running but not the air.
It’s now a selling point here! Generator comes with the house, hard wired already. Fuck you Newsom!
Nice. Trump needs to hammer Heels Up about CA's energy issues.
Heels Up congratulated Newsom when he was elected in 2016, and promised that by 2020, 50% (I think I remember that correctly) of CA's energy would be Green.
It's overcast down here in LA, and not even the solar fountains are working.
Amazing that when you vote for third world politics you get third world results
Well, I moved here a few years ago. I didn't vote for what is going on.. However, I've really realized how shit things are here. I don't live in the city, so it's better, but I still have to deal with shitty politics and shitty politicians, bad laws and regulations, bad taxes.. etc.
Wait for the next big earthquake, and that awesome, "temporary" 1% State Tax hike that follows.
Temporary in Cali means forever.
My friend's sister and her husband moved to LA last year.
They lasted 1 year, then moved back here to Texas.
The area they lived in was apparently nice, but a few blocks down was basically another skid row. My friend's sister was scared to shop because homeless people kept bothering her.
The reason they went there was because her husband was going to film school after getting out of the military. Then COVID hit, and his GI Bill tuition was reduced because he was taking online courses. The VA in california doesn't give a fuck apparently. So they had to get a roommate. The guy turned out to be some crazy schizophrenic who pulled a gun on them.
I remember when my friend told me his sister was going to California. I asked him why, and told him she would regret it.
He laughed and said she needed to find out for herself.
Shit like this doesn't happen in BRAZIL.
lol cali hasnt been the 5th largest in ages. Why do Californians still say this. Texas passed you a decade ago. Hell several states did.
I heard that figure some time ago. I looked it up quick awhile back and thought I had my information correct. Guess I will have to double check. Either way, I only say it to illustrate my frustration on how a (formally) powerful state has let its' citizens down through corruption, mismanagement, & failed policies.
I think it can be saved easily. The problem are illegals and too much deep state influence imbeded that needs to be both voted and forced out.
I'd like to think so.. I've lived enough other places to know that where I live is awesome and special. Although better than the stereotypical image most ppl have of CA, I still live with the effects of all the terrible decisions made here.
There are no shortage of people who'd prefer CA just drop into the ocean. That attitude makes me a little sad. CA is STILL a state in the UNION. I don't believe CA is a lost cause. There are a lot of lost people, but the possibility of beneficent change exists.
At the very least, as everyone knows, we have been stuck with terrible leadership. Looking forward to see what the next year brings.
I'm in Texas so trust me, speaking good of Cali is blasphemy. Your brothers and sisters are trying to turn Texas into what cali became plus illegals here also.
Its hard as fuck not to hate every californian i meet but i know its the big coastal cities and not the state as a whole.
Austin has been lost for a while. Houston is close second. Dallas is slowly getting there.
The last bastions of hope are in ft worth and san Antonio.
Ft worth DA is already corrupt, he dropped all riot charges.
Austin was lost long ago, before most of you were even born.
We called it "Moscow on the Colorado" back in the 1960's.
Better be safe and side on everyone from cali being a dnc asshole
True, but between the voter fraud, and the "jungle primary" system, it's pretty hard to succeed at voting it out. I'm hopeful something will have to give soon after all this chaos, but we'll see.
It's now a one party state and without repealing a proposition from the 90's, that won't change much.
The best decision I ever did was move out of California this past year after living there 31 years.
Congratulations and where did you flee to?
Portland
Holy shit I loled
That’s not much better in terms of quality of life! I feel sorry for you.
I'm not OP, was joking
AZ. I’ll be voting straight R ballot in Nov.
Good, hopefully you understand why the immigration issue must be dealt with. Hopefully you get way more sunshine than the People’s Republic of California!
Idiots blew their budget on liberal feel-good shit and corruption. No money left to clean up the forest debris, or clear areas around transmission lines.
Now the state is perpetually on fire and rolling blackouts every week.
Thet have the money, they just spend it all on illegals. It goes to prop up social programs for non-U.S. residents.
As well as high wages on state and municiple employment and their overblown golden pensions. Education benefits are high as well. These things create votes, but aren't balanced or sustainable.
They wont buy grid power, because the percent green energy will go below the sustainable power threshold they brag about so they shut off the power instead. And blame the service provider, there is nothing wrong with the grid...
Turn CALIFORNIA RED
No thanks, we don't want or need them.
Theres a lot of annoying libs in CA, but Id rather turn the US red and see more walkaways than say screw them all. California is a beautiful piece of land. Why give it to a bunch of assholes? Southern CA is turning red, and Im loving it
California is basically a third world country at this point.
So it would seem...some places.
Tired of constantly seeing this shit (not the poster but the things the Dems are doing)? It does no good just to bitch and complain here, if you and other conservatives want to make a difference, THEN WE MUST VOTE!
LOTS and LOTS of conservatives and Trump supporters have STILL not registered to vote. Check your status, register yourselves and get others who are passionate about Trump and conservative values if you/they haven't yet registered:
https://www.usa.gov/register-to-vote#item-212645 (or check the side bar)
Remember that this is a numbers game and we need to WIN!
They have ballot harvesting for a reason. Too maintain position and power in government.
Plenty of her $13 a pint gourmet ice cream in her two $12k freezers! You can bet her mansion is on a huge automatic generator system. What does she care about the rest of the state going without power and A/C?
So what if you have an electric stove? Do you have to buy a camping stove to cook with?
And coolers with ice? Oh my.
Sacramento: Yeah, we know you voted for this Proposition, but we're not going to implement it or punish govt agencies who ignore your vote.
Also Sacramento: Yeah, we know you struck down this crazy-ass commie Proposition, but fuck your votes, we're going to implement it anyway and we're going to supplement all govt entities who also tell you to go fuck your vote.
Gas range and grill on my deck. No biggie. Will get ice at some point. As much as it sucks to go without power, I actually enjoy it for a time. Life gets a little more simple. I find a bit more time to read. Candle light is pretty nice. Light pollution is gone. Little things to keep in mind.
And here I am complaining about my ice maker breaking.
Pretty sure they banned gas stoves and have to use electric now.
Nope I just got a beautiful new gas range and stove just for this reason. My other oven is electric.
Also a lovely Honda generator that is currently running and spewing gas fumes everywhere. Suck on that environmentalists! Lol!
Interesting... Someone on here was saying they can't have a gas stove in a residence if it's not grandfathered in. Maybe for certain cities? Otherwise we're spreading fake news!
Every store in Northern California sells gas stoves. Sorry fake news. But.....I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some Bill they are trying to pass.
Jokes on them, every single house in my neighborhood is currently running their gas generators! Reeeeee pollution!
Depending on the size of your Honda generator, you can get a propane conversion kit. It will run much cleaner, and you won't have to worry about old gas gumming up the carburetor.
RV'ers love it, because they can run it from the propane tank they already have.
But how are you supposed to charge your electric vehicle??
just like china- it's a paper tiger, but it doesn't even socially soft-enforce conscription—while maintaining over a trillion in debt with a LOT more in unfunded liabilities
so.. the whole "look at all this money we make bois" is completely false, but it's worse than that; the same people who will tell you that countries shouldn't be measured by their GDP or economic activity often live in states that fail miserably by their own arbitrary, idiotic, masturbating-to-a-bernie-impersonator-singing-the-soviet-national-anthem "true measures of societal success" they and even more moderate dems like yang have pitched for nearly 2 years now
they're absolute buffoons boasting about something they're not actually proud of- like when pelosi tries to lecture trump/republicans on christianity
nice. try. retards
San Onofre,, a perfectly good nuclear power plant shuttered because they ordered replacement pipes that leak. Instead of dealing with it, they shut it down
You forgot Fuck Sacramento
True enough. I live about an hour away. I hate having to drive in for work once in awhile.. I try to stay away. It's pretty easy, for the most part.
So California getting a dose of Atlas Shrugged then
You can be certain the power company has stationed a standby generator at Nancy's house to prevent her gourmet ice-cream melting. And another at her hair salon.
Please escape California because you don’t have to live this way! I thought that Chicago had it worse but now I think that California has it worse than Chicago or NYC.
Yeah.. It's on my mind for sure. No clue where I'd want to move though.
Oregon pede. My power is off and it is windy af
Dang.. Oregon is at the top of my move list. Medford area.. Staying well away from Portland.
And they are closing Cali’s last nuke plant, Diablo Canyon. Beautiful plant, but libshits and ecofacsists don’t know anything about the power industry and get all their nuke knowledge from the Simpsons.
Nothing like having no AC during a summer heatwave because of leftist corruption.
Once Cali went after PG&E for the big fires, PG&E shuts down power to protect themselves from more litigation by the ever hungry for money state leglislature. While at the same time, the satae don't want them focusing on updating "old infrastructure" and are pushing them to invest deeply in things like wind and solar generation. Yet another example of the Left Coast CA Dems running amuck.
Don't forget that house commission on energy is headed up by Jerry mcnerney. a retired PGE executive who didn't even win his district and is not a California native
Doesn't fuck everyone over . Nancy's ice cream will be just fine
Because they have 0 battery capacity so they regularly reduce power output instead of storing it for a rainy day. Meanwhile all their other power sources have regulatory caps or have gone out of business.
Commiefornia. Where power outages are how you save the environment.
Is it true that PG&E went woke instead of maintaining the grid?
I have a house in California and I get all those PG&E alerts too, it's complete bullshit. If the wind blows, turn the power off. If it snows, turn the power off. If the sun's shining, turn the power off. What in the 3rd world country crap is that?! They turned off the power for 5 days during a snow storm last year, my neighbors are in their mid 70's. We had to get one of the tractors out to get them some fuel to keep the lights on, 5 days fuel for a generator isn't something you'd think you would have to prepare for... yet here we are.
We can't get homeowners insurance any longer, which means NOBODY is in compliance if they have a mortgage.
House is going up for sale today, I want to be completely out of that hellhole state. I loved it there, great people in my town, these Democrats are doing things that affect us and drive us out... just so they can keep power.
Well... Fuck You, California. I'm in Texas now and here my vote matters.
CA here too. Went through this bs last week. SDG&E equally shitty.
I bet your Governor will have power.
those fucking commies need to be physically removed already. they are breaking oath and are acting like tyrannical overlords
After seeing the lockdowns, I see it as just as likely that they intentionally shut it down just to be cruel
Buddy from California, moving to Idaho. Many others doing the same. It's unbearable there. He vented on the phone the other day, he grew up in CA in the 90s and it's really hard on him the way things turned out. He's voting Trump for sure, and I can't imagine he's an outlier.
I feel for you, brother; I grew up in Cali and watched my neighborhood turn into a third-world favela around me. Demography is destiny. The New Americans immigrating to California couldn't keep the power on in their home countries, either.
Please keep your mask on during these troubling times.
Get a generator. Don’t be reliant on the power grid. You can also build your own. Harbor Freight offers a 10000W belt-drive unit. You can run off the PTO belt on a riding mower. Riders can often be found for free, since yuppies tend to throw them away as soon the decks need rebuilding.
Thankfully, the part I live in (LA) hasn't experienced any blackouts yesterday or today. What part of California are you in?
Proper forest management would help with your smoke smells.
I dug into the data a while ago. In-state energy production has decreased ~15% since 2000. In the same time frame, the state population has grown ~15%.
Forget PG&E. That's the core issue right there.