On Fri, 10 Nov 2017 08:33:56 -0800 (PST)
rangerssuck wrote:

snip
Cheapest, but hardly efficient. Again, transponders would
be cheap and could provide otherwise useful telemetry
(voltage, load, etc). Our local utility (PSE&G) has
installed 200W solar panels on many poles. Lots of poles -
40MW total. Some of these units have antennas on them. I
don't know whether they are in constant communication to a
central computer, but if they are, they could provide some
useful information about outages. But I don't think they
use that information. They just wait for enough people to
call and then send out a car.

Utility installed "smart meters" here several years ago. They use one
of the cell networks (my understanding) to report meter readings and
such several times a day. When power goes out they are suppose to be
able to still send out a death gasp.

I gave up calling in outages when they said I would be charged for the
service call if they deem it isn't there fault...

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
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