Thank Socialism for California Fires; and for Burying the Potential Hazard of Solar Panels

“One wing touches each of the conductors, and they turn into a light bulb…Happens all the time.” – Zach Nichols, a Cal Fire battalion chief speaking of a June fire that destroyed 1,127 acres in California sparked by a bird ‘s contact with Solar Panels  

Californians voted in the socialists largely responsible for the blackouts and forest fires mess. While there have always been forest fires, the intensity, extent of the damage and the chaos surrounding the electric company is man-made.

Many have been correctly pointing out that the electric company behind widespread blackouts, PG&E, is far from being a strong free market organization. Instead, they are a complete sell out to California politicians (see below for more on that). But a dear friend from California pointed out another possible threat: Solar Panels.

In August 2019, the U.S. photovoltaics (PV) community’s PV magazine USA obtained a jaw-dropping fact from the National Fire Data Center, which evidently exists (who knew?) and keeps statistics on causes of fires (as an aside, it would be nice if the federal government kept statistics on things like botched abortions, illegal alien crime and recidivism instead of fake hate crime statistics, but this author digresses).

What the PV community found is that fires resulting from Solar Panels are not documented. Instead, those fires are classified as “other.” Evidently, “they don’t have a code for it yet so they don’t track it .”

From the article:

…Tightening connections is the number one challenge as loose connections can lead to sparks flying, which set nearby items on fire.

[…]

And though it wasn’t a rooftop system, we did recently had fire [sic] when a bird ‘flew into a pair of wires, creating an electric circuit and a shower of sparks’ and setting 1,127 acre fire that caused $8-9 million in damage at a 250 MW solar power plant, temporarily shutting down 84% of the facility.

That fire referenced by PV Magazine happened, of course, in California earlier this year.

From the LA Times:

A June 5 fire at a California solar farm that scorched 1,127 acres started when a bird flew into a pair of wires, creating an electric circuit and a shower of sparks, a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection official said. It didn’t end well for the power plant — or the bird.

‘One wing touches each of the conductors, and they turn into a light bulb,’ said Zach Nichols, a Cal Fire battalion chief. ‘Happens all the time.’

“Happens all the time”

Considering that California is “the highest solar power generating state in the nation,” isn’t this worth exploring further?

Corporate Cronyism

While the solar panel issue is worthy of exploration, California’s utility companies are taking plenty of heat (no pun intended) by those giddy to blame “capitalism.” But these organizations sold out to the socialists running California a long time ago. When companies get in bed with politicians, disaster inevitably results, as it did during Obama’s disastrous “Public Equity” experiment, which resulted in obscene amounts of bankruptcies and layoffs. This author would be remiss not to address the moronic argument that “Capitalism” is to blame for the fires in California.

Chuck DeVore of The Federalist sums up the role of California’s “large and heavily regulated public utilities”:

“…California’s large and heavily regulated public utilities—PG&E, SDG&E, and SCE—prioritize wind and solar power, leaving little for powerline maintenance and upgrades. Simply put, the utilities are doing exactly what the regulators tell them to do. 

There is no resemblance between the free market and California’s utility companies. If electric companies were focused on providing goods and services to their customers, they would maintain and upgrade their power lines.

Listen to Dan Bongino’s show from October 30 (set at the starting point, but please go subscribe to his show) for a great synopsis of the extent of the Electric Company’s cronyism:

While it is not clear exactly what has led to the fires sweeping through California, it is not unreasonable to press for answers on the possible role solar panels play in fires in general. One thing is certain, the cause of the fires is not “capitalism” or “global warming.”

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