The utilities know that as soon as they give up these lines, they will never get that right of way back, and both need the backup capacity and have been administratively prevented from bringing them up to modern standards by the requirements for new environmental review.

Why are utilities privately owned when the public is ultimately left holding the bag?

>Amid opposition from the utility companies, the Public Utilities Commission studied the proposal for several years, ultimately watering it down to allow the old lines to remain up until executives decided they were “permanently abandoned,” records show.

So the commission is a joke. They should be held partially liable for the cleanup.