The Hill: California blackouts are a planned disaster

In response to last year’s wildfires caused by PG&E equipment, the company has decided to cut power to over one million California residents as a preventative measure. However, some have noted that this planned blackout is looking more like a series of small disasters, with residents and businesses confused and facing economic hardship. Schools have canceled classes, health care systems are testing out their disaster plans, and the estimated total economic impacts of the blackouts are more than one billion dollars. Without electricity, many Americans living with chronic conditions that require treatments such as dialysis are facing hardship. Speculators say that this electrical shut-down is a consequence of years of infrastructural neglect, supported by the D+ rating that The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the U.S. energy sector on their infrastructural report. They surmise that the actions we are forced to take now were preventable and can be resolved, but will cost significant investment.

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