Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Trapped
PG&E Corp, a California utility, will shortly file for bankruptcy and might be trapped by global warming. Long-running drought in the state has dried brush and trees along its power lines to the point of tinder. Any sparking from its poles ignites vegetation immediately and causes a wildfire. The company already is being sued for the Camp Fire that burned an entire town and caused a loss of life even though authorities have not yet assigned a cause for the blaze. The CEO has stepped down, and the state has said it won't indemnify the company, which is facing $30 billion in penalties. There is little PG&E can do to get out from under its burden. Clearing trees and brush from around its lines would take years and is an expensive never-ending job. Investors have already largely abandoned the company. There are no messages of comfort for them. It is like a butterfly pierced with a pin pushed into a cork board. It can flap its wings but it isn't going anywhere. Its only salvation is that customers need electricity and gas and someone needs to deliver them.
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