PGE is considered directly responsible for >$40B in fire damage in California.
IMHO regulation, the phenomena of regulatory capture, and the implementation of regulatory compliance bureaucracy within PG&E resulted in private sector bureaucrats drunk on power imposing government-supported misfeasance with unintended consequence...With a organization like PG&E it’s difficult to discern the boundary between the state and the corporation. Modern government enthusiasts dream of ways to impose more perfect order using the power of government, not realizing the emergent imperfection is a consequence of such aggrandizement.
Pretending otherwise is libertarian fantasy absolutely opposite to the objective facts.
With respect to your comment, are we supposing regulatory capture is never a responsible corporate behavior? I’m not sure how we must conclude that responsible corporate behavior necessarily follows from and is solely dependent upon the exercise of regulatory power.
Fires need three things: fuel, oxygen, heat, and two are effected by humans.
Heat: PGE, Lightning, Vehicle fires etc. all statistically provide opportunities for heat.
Fuel: There is an order of magnitude more fuel than a century ago.
