[ExI] silly yanks

[spike at rainier66.com]

…> On Behalf Of William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat

Subject: Re: [ExI] silly yanks

 

And, of course, the grid must be maintained so that fallen cables don't start wildfires.    Will someone explain to me why electrical cables are not buried?   bill w

 

Because that costs a lotta money BillW.

 

They are being buried in a many places in California, but the current plan required a huge expensive fire being started by the utility company such that they were sued and had to pay jillions. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Fire_(2018)

 

Then of course the power company could just charge whatever it costs to pay out the judgment in addition to the cost of burying the powerlines.  They don’t care if they get sued, the costs are all passed right along.  The power company can’t go bankrupt: they have no competitors and we need their product.

 

Before the Camp Fire judgment the consumers would squawk if the power company spent money burying the lines, but after the consumers were given the bill for burning down all those homes in Paradise CA, then they could be given an additional bill for burying the lines.

 

If you get to feeling life isn’t being fair to you, check out this:

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=camp+fire+paradise+images&sxsrf=ALiCzsYVTfvPmXuvn8nwvzrtlVPms95HaA%3A1662419741321&source=hp&ei=HYMWY8uCEPXdkPIP69yn0AM&iflsig=AJiK0e8AAAAAYxaRLY0jxTJ1tC2PBLQfUIeNjslpJEDq&ved=0ahUKEwiLhZWR5P75AhX1LkQIHWvuCToQ4dUDCAo&uact=5&oq=camp+fire+paradise+images&gs_lcp=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&sclient=gws-wiz

 

Feel better about being you?  Same here.  I have two friends (an older couple) who survived that because they were away when it started, but their home didn’t.  They still own the property but have never rebuilt.  Probably won’t now: one is in his 80s and his wife will be soon.  A lifetime of collected memories were converted into a bad smell in one horrifying afternoon.

 

The power company is really a monopoly: we have only two choices: buy their power or don’t buy it.  If we don’t buy it, we must supply our own (and some do that (thanks again to Elon Musk.))  But to supply your own power costs a loooootta lotta money: you need a lot of solar cells, more than a typical roof has space for, you need energy storage such as Musk-ovite power wall (which is cool too (my neighbor has one and loves it (which he bought for only 23k (and has a useful life of over 12 years.)))

 

I did a life cycle cost estimate and realized he is paying more to generate and store part of his power usage that it costs to just buy the power from the monopoly company.  But he is anticipating shortages and dramatic cost increases for power, so he might get the last laugh.

 

spike

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