October 2019 saw the largest power outage in California’s history. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) cut power to 700,000 homes and businesses, leaving over one million individuals (including our co-workers at Real Goods) without power for more than two days. Even though PG&E announced the outage, its effects ranged from inconvenient to deadly for the over-one-million individuals affected.
To be clear, the PG&E blackouts served the purpose of fire prevention. Californians know better than most just how quickly a spark can grow into a devastating fire in dry and windy conditions. Most would happily go a day or two without power, rather than risk another Camp Fire (the 2018 fire that destroyed the town of Paradise, CA, killed over 80 people, and was started by PG&E power lines).
For more information on the rolling blackouts, and how to power your essential appliances and devices through them, head over to the Real Goods Blog for the full article!
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