Blackouts that cut cell service aren't just annoying

 

It's wildfire season again in California as the second and third largest blazes in the state's history  continue 

to burn. More than a thousand structures across 10 counties have been destroyed and (so far) five people 

have died as hazardous smoke blanketed the more populous parts of the Bay Area for weeks. But so far at 

least, Northern California utility PG&E hasn't had to institute Public Safety Power Shutoff programs I 

hope that lasts.

The programs, which are about as dystopian as they sound, were a fact of life across the state during fire 

season last year. To prevent its power lines from sparking wildfires during windy conditions  PG&E

equipment caused the 2018 Camp Fire the and deadliest most destructive  in the state's history -- the 

public company purposefully plunged entire cities into darkness, sometimes for as long as a week. (The 

state's other giant utility, Southern California Edison, conducted similar shutoff programs)