Essay Sample on Power Outages: PG&E's Unilateral Decision and Poor Infrastructure

Behind the power outages was the unilateral decision of the Pacific Gas & Electric company, the largest utility company in the United States by the number of customers, which serves electricity to 16 million people in Northern California. The official investigations of the two deadliest fires of the last two years (Santa Rosa in 2017 and Paradise in 2018, with 96 dead between the two) concluded that the poor infrastructure of this company, whose cables hang on roads and forests, had been the origin of the fire.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Given the forecast of winds and high temperatures, PG&E decided to cut off the supply. The official information about the cuts was on their website, which was loaded with great difficulty after consultations. "To protect public safety, PG&E has cut the light due to wind gusts and dry conditions combined with a high risk of fire. Once the weather improves and when it is safe, PG&E teams will check the light cables, repair damaged equipment, and restore customer service," said a statement on the company's website. "The cuts can last "more than 48 hours. For planning purposes, PG&E suggests customers prepare for cuts that can last several days (Dolan)." The cut affected 32 counties. Among the cities affected are some of the most populous in California, such as Oakland, Fremont and Berkeley, in San Francisco Bay, as well as parts of Silicon Valley.

A few days after the first power outage that left 738,000 homes and businesses in 34 counties in California without electricity, Newsom (the governor of California) sent a letter to the company's CEO who urged him to provide those affected with "an automatic credit or a refund $ 100 for those affected in homes and $ 250 for small business owners" as compensation for the ravages caused by their preventive blackouts. Although the governor did not offer details of the agreement, compensation could cost PG&E more than $ 100 million depending on the exact number of businesses affected.

In total more than a million homes and businesses in dozens of counties in the central and northern parts of the state suffered the ravages of two consecutive blackouts that lasted for almost a week. Schools and universities suspended classes, and many businesses did not open (Vox). Examples used by Pacific Gas & Electric to highlight the need for preventive blackouts include at least 156 instances in which high winds knocked down trees and threw branches over electrical wiring, as well as power lines that fell on the pavement and in areas close to homes.

Abraham Maslow published in 1943 a psychological theory that defines and classifies basic human needs. His hierarchy of needs is probably the best-known representation of human needs and is used, for example, in marketing planning. It classifies needs at different levels, from the basic to the less essential. At the lowest level are human physiological needs and at the highest level, the needs related to self-realization. Below are the four lowest levels, which are the so-called deficiency needs. A power cut is a major emergency in today's society that hits needs from the lowest levels.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs; physical needs include those that are essential to maintaining a normal life and vital functions. This category includes, e.g. breathing air and food, and staying warm. Particularly during the winter, a long power outage jeopardizes many of these physical needs. Home heating failures, interruptions in power supply to hospitals and health care, disruption of cold chains and water supply are examples of the effects of a power outage that directly addresses physical needs.

One has the ability and skill to prepare for the future and to strive to safeguard one's existence and well-being. Most people strive for safe, stable and sheltered conditions and seek to reduce the uncertainties and risks associated with them. Long and widespread power cuts are usually caused by exceptional weather conditions, which by their very nature, weaken the sense of security. The sense of security is weakened by the difficulties in accessing information, communication and movement, and is further diminished by difficulties in obtaining food, goods and services, and concerns or threats of financial loss (Dolan). Many people, because of their illness, are dependent on the availability of network electricity and working telecommunication connections. Their absence can even be a serious threat to health.

The effects of power cuts affected everyone living in the area. The disruption of their own lives made people act differently. It was difficult to operate at home, and the trusted public infrastructure and public and private services failed. People were not prepared for long power outages and could not operate in exceptional circumstances.

The feeling of security diminished as the storm winds continued to blow. Authorities warned against going outside, falling trees and loose roof dampers, emergency service numbers did not work, and emergency centers were congested (Vox). Communication with authorities, relatives and friends was significantly difficult and access to information was difficult. Individuals had no idea of the magnitude of the power outages, the expected events and the actions planned. At the same time, their concern about becoming aware of their distress was great.

Energy companies seemed to have difficulty in providing a comprehensive snapshot and launching a repair operation at the speed and scale required by the situation. In the first instance, the companies were accused of having problems with the information. Telephone exchanges and websites became clogged and communication between authorities and energy companies did not work as expected.

During power outages for a prolonged period, domino effects may occur afterward in different socio-economic sectors. Power cuts resulted in huge losses for many businesses and companies. Even very short-term power outages can have unpleasant consequences. For example, the processing of data in a computer is interrupted abruptly, and the data being processed can be lost (Dolan). Even if the power supply is restored very quickly, these computers have to reboot (reload the operating system and restart the application programs), so often remain unavailable for many seconds or several minutes and then have more or less large data corruption Processes resume their operations. (The quality of the software can be crucial for mastering such failures without major damage.)

A power failure lasting several hours can have far greater effects: Many freezers and refrigerators (especially those with insufficient thermal insulation) are too warm, so that spoils the stored goods. Many transport systems (especially electric trains, but also lifts) are canceled, so that important transport services are eliminated. The failure of the lighting of homes, offices, and industrial plants can greatly disrupt the processes there.

The transmission of information through telephones, television, and radio, e-mail, and newspapers may be disrupted, with dire consequences, in particular for an industrialized society. Hospitals and other critical facilities must have an emergency power supply. However, this usually can not bridge any lengthy power outages because the batteries or the fuel stocks are exhausted. The water supply can also be affected, with other serious consequences.

A power failure also affects other power plants. Most serious are the possible consequences for the nuclear reactors of nuclear power plants. These often have to be switched off immediately in the event of a power failure; the continued operation with low power for self-consumption coverage is often not possible. Then it is critical for reactor safety that the emergency power supply works reliably, especially to maintain the cooling of the reactor and the operation of the control room (Dolan). This did not work when the emergency power supply was destroyed in March 2010 in Fukushima as a result of a tsunami. This destroyed several Nuclear reactors and thus the release of significant amounts of radioactive substances in the air, soil, drinking water and the sea. Thus, a severe nuclear accident was triggered solely by a power failure in the system.

It is also possible that the natural gas supply is interrupted because their operation requires electrical energy in many places, and the plants have not been completely secured with emergency generators. Similarly, gas stations do not work because their fuel pumps fail so that gasoline and diesel fuel can not be obtained. Fuels can not be transported if their means of transport (such as electric trains) fail.

In the case of California, first, road traffic was quickly disrupted by the extinction of public lighting, traffic lights, and the closure of crossings, which caused traffic problems. Some trains, subways and trams also stopped. Banking services were also affected. The critical functions and databases of the financial sector are protected against long-lasting power outages. The vending machines may, however, be out of order as well as the payment terminals in the stores (Vox). Telephone and data traffic services were affected as well. GSM antennas can also hold without electricity for a period of about 4 hours. However, landline phones and modems are shut down during a power outage and it will not be possible to charge the battery of its devices.

In case of a power failure of a few hours during which workers are unable to continue their work, it is an incomplete workday. It is therefore not possible to invoke temporary unemployment. If a company is unable to offer workers alternative work for the rest of the day, it must pay them the guaranteed daily wage.

Untimely power outages had detrimental effects on all electrical devices. The more these are repeated, the more the devices can be damaged and no longer work properly. From a simple breakdown to total uselessness, this has a cost (Dolan). On a lit device, the effects of a power failure can quickly prove to be harmful. Indeed, the power of the electrical installation is not inconsequential for the device connected to the socket that was lit at the time of the cut. When the power is restored, the device is usually turned on by itself. This is the case, for example, of certain televisions or electric ovens. It should be noted that the more the micro-cuts are frequent over time, the more it damages the devices until they become defective or unusable.

An appliance in standby mode remains supplied with electricity at the time of the power failure. It also suffers electrical damage. The restoration of electricity can lead to an uncontrollable surge. Likewise, this may produce Undervoltage that could slow the operation of the device. A power outage can also damage an off-line device that is still plugged in. Indeed, the power plug connected to the mains socket can be damaged in the event of peak voltage, overvoltage, or even lightning. It should then be unplugged to protect itself.

Electronic devices can not withstand power cuts, but also fluctuations in electrical intensity. In the long run, this can damage them or even make them unusable. The TV, the internet box, or the DVD player are often the first affected. It is, therefore, necessary to protect them to the maximum. (Vox) A computer that is not have been properly switched off may have system errors upon re-ignition. This is what happens when it is turned off suddenly due to a power failure. If the recent models manage to overcome several untimely power cuts, the older ones suffer. In the long run, this damages the system and the key elements to operate such devices.

Whatever type of refrigerator one has, it is permanently electrically powered. For this appliance, no other alternative is possible; it must be connected to electri...