power outages,

[Zoe Girl]

we lost power again this morning. it has been happening a lot, a couple times a month, for the last few months. at least i am resourceful and made tea in my fondue pot (cannot live without tea) but it was out from 6:30 - 8 am, i could shower but not do my hair in a professional way. today is my flex day at least! but little things like making breakfast or using a hair dryer are important.

in any case does it do any good to complain, at least i can ask why and see if there is some work that will be finished soon. yes i can totally cope, but there is no snow storm, not brown out risk due to AC units, nothing happening that i should be coping when i pay my bill on time.

okay just griping, i mostly lost time to clean and pack and load up for goodwill because of the dark house.

[goldensmom]

Happens here also. It's so frustrating especially when it is out for up to 24 hours with no explanation given (weather is fine, no reports of accidents, etc.) and the restoration times keep changing. We have a generator.

[Zoe Girl]

i guess i am glad to hear it happens other places, but frustrating. i live in a small place in the city so generators are not an option. i am getting some breakfast bars at least so i can eat in the morning.

[Gregg]

Since the infrastructure of the actual power grid was set up, starting in the 1920s when utilities began interconnecting, the population of the US has more than tripled. Add to that the fact that a few lights and a radio were just about all anyone had that ran on electricity back then, but look at us now. The grid expanded as the population did, but with the exception of nuclear plants we are essentially using the same technology as we did 90 years ago. The odds are good that we can expect short term outages to continue and in a lot of cases increase. The grid is also one of the weakest links in our national security chain and so an attractive potential target for terrorists. That kind of activity could cause significant outages for much longer durations.

This thread is appropriate for SPP because the only chance most of us have to do anything about it is by contacting our representatives and demanding investment in our infrastructure. Before its too late.

[bae]

This thread is appropriate for SPP because the only chance most of us have to do anything about it is by contacting our representatives and demanding investment in our infrastructure. Before its too late.

Isn't the power grid privately-owned?

[goldensmom]

Isn't the power grid privately-owned?

The power company that provides power for the area I live in is an investor owned utility and as so is private.

[Gregg]

Isn't the power grid privately-owned?

In most cases I believe it is. But the subsidies to make upgrading attractive would most likely be governmental in nature.

[creaker]

In most cases I believe it is. But the subsidies to make upgrading attractive would most likely be governmental in nature.

Isn't a lot of the grid (primarily rural) there only through government involvement? At least when it was built.

[Gregg]

Isn't a lot of the grid (primarily rural) there only through government involvement? At least when it was built.

Yes. Mostly through the Rural Electrification Act back in the 1930s. I think it was part of FDR's New Deal. I'm in Nebraska, its easy to spot REA signs all over out here. My grandparents finally got power to their place in 1947. It was a very long single wire from the main road to their house, about 6 miles. Quite the "grid", huh?

[lessisbest]

I have a former brother-in-law who is an engineer for several power plants and he can talk about the power grid, with authority, for hours on end. He also travels to China and oversees installation of new power plants there. Our power grid is in such terrible shape, according to him, it is a wonder we don't have more brown-outs and power outages than we do. Government regulations makes it difficult (as in expensive or nearly impossible) to build new, or drastically alter existing coal-fired plants. After talking to him over the years, I've always made sure we had solar back-up for at least a portion of our power. We have enough deep-cell batteries to power our refrigerator, a wide-range of alternative methods for cooking, and a good selection of solar-powered and battery-powered lighting. We experience times in the summer when we have to conserve energy by raising thermostats to 80°F. Some of the local manufacturing companies will shut down in the afternoon to conserve energy. We also have lots of emergency water on hand, plus rain barrels that will hold about 1,000-gallons of water that we could purify, and also have a set-up to make a composting toilet. We've grown too accustomed to always having energy at a flip of a switch, but don't give any thought to what we do when it's not there. Outages are just small reminders......