WSJ: "Four years ago, Hawaiian Electric said it needed to do more to prevent its power lines from emitting sparks. It made little progress, focusing on a shift to clean energy."

It has been said time and again that even without shifting to EVS electric stoves electric everything, America’s power grid, especially in blackout-prone California) is insufficient.

It has been said time and again that replacing thousands of miles of hollow oil and gas pipelines with thousands of miles of copper-filled or aluminum-filled electrical lines will require many many tons of metal (difficult to obtain at any price given our anti-mining laws.)

It appears that in the mad rush to throw money at windmills,
(and solar panels and the cars they will run) we have seriously neglected the kilotons of ultra thin, fraying outdated, and poorly-connected wires that connect them.

According to this article that politically-motivated pretend blindness has now had deadly consequences.

From the article

Four years ago, the utility said it needed to do more to prevent its power lines from emitting sparks. It made little progress, focusing on a shift to clean energy.

By Katherine Blunt, Dan Frosch, and Jim Carlton
Aug. 16, 2023

During the 2019 wildfire season, one of the worst Maui had ever seen, Hawaiian Electric concluded that it needed to do far more to prevent its power lines from emitting sparks.

The utility examined California’s plans to reduce fires ignited by power lines, started flying drones over its territory and vowed to take steps to protect its equipment and its customers from the threat of fire.

Nearly four years later, the company has completed little such work. Between 2019 and 2022, it invested less than $245,000 on wildfire-specific projects on the island, regulatory filings show. It didn’t seek state approval to raise rates to pay for broad wildfire-safety improvements until 2022, and has yet to receive it.

Now, the company is facing scrutiny, litigation and a financial crisis over indications that its power lines might have played a role in igniting the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. The blaze has caused more than 100 deaths, destroyed the historic town of Lahaina and resulted in an estimated billions of dollars in damage.

The fire’s cause hasn’t been determined, but mounting evidence suggests the utility’s equipment was involved. One video taken by a resident shows a downed power line igniting dry grass along a road near Lahaina.

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Hmm

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NY Times 2015

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Very interesting. Thank you for posting these articles.

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once again, leftism ruins society a little more

but then again there are no exceptions

interesting thanks for posting.

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It’s amazing that their choice to not do both is the leftists fault :man_facepalming::joy:

Well everything always is.

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It sounds to me like you’ve already decided the solution is to throw more money at the problem.

Normal people
“When you are in a hole quit digging.”

Lefties
“When you are in a hole we need a government program to build staircases.”
.
.
.
.

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The left
wrote promoted and enacted the EV requirements and solar panel programs etc… (The programs that strain the grid.)

The right
opposed those bills

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The left
shin-kicks the mining industry (depriving the electrical grids of much-needed metals for transmission lines)

The right
opposed those efforts.

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And you have already decided that it’s the lefts fault.

Can you point to where the company specifically failed to address their sparking lines because of the left shin kicking the mining industry. The fact is that they decided to forego one expense over another and didn’t even apply for a rate hike to cover both or figures out another way to budget for it. They are a public private entity.

Go ahead connect the dots.

Solar panel programs strain the grid? Oh really?

Excess electricity supply on hot sunny days (solar) or on windy days (windmills) creates a dangerous electricity overload. Those can cause immediate danger (sparking) or long term wear and tear in the grid.

Likewise too much demand for electricity EVs (electric stoves electric water heaters electric bikes,)

This is not advanced engineering. Pretending you do not see a problem does not make it go away.

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Well they are Polish… :upside_down_face:

So kidding.

Anyway yea it looks like yes that the upgrade has to come first so it can handle the additional electricity. So it’s not that it puts a strain is that it puts a strain on the system that’s not properly designed.

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my snark

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Amazing coincidences keep happening–known severe fire dangers, reports of a coverup of death figures, and the Maui police chief was in charge of the investigation for the 2017 Las Vegas shooting.

. . . the Maui government is covering up the deaths. The source had just returned from a big meeting on Oahu convened to coordinate the response to the disaster. The source said that there are 2000 people missing and that FEMA estimates at least 1-2000 dead on Maui, especially Lahaina. It was essentially burned to the ground and the residents were told to shelter in place.
Exclusive: Is The Government of Hawaii Lying About The Missing and Dead on Maui? | The Gateway Pundit | by Larry Johnson

Even a rat doesn’t trust itself to one hole.

Foolhardy to even suggest eliminating petroleum, LNG alternatives.

There is a certain sad irony that the DEADLIEST wildfire was sparked by green energy and not fossil fuels.

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Look at that prime farm land being destroyed.

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Because they’re leftist.

They go off using emotions without thinking of consequences.

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Hey…now you’re getting it.

It’s like running 20 amps through 15 amp wire. Not exact same thing but much larger scale…you get the picture.

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At the very very least the true cost of renewables and EVS involves much more expense (money and metals mining) than we were told.

EVS, electic stoves etc. require grid upgrades that can handle a LOT more electricity.

Imagine replacing every hollow gas/oil pipeline with a pipeline filled with copper.
image

How much copper would it take
& how much would it cost to replace all of America’s oil pipelines with solid metal transmission lines?
image

not to mention the copper mines
image

I have a idea there is a reason we have been throwing money at the front part and the back part and ignoring the grid in the middle.

“Emergencies” are always a gold mine like that. :wink:

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When you are in a hole
a) quit digging
or
b) lobby the government to fund a staircase.

We are gonna pick one. Like it or not we are gonna pick one.

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