Like all major storms, power is out to 1,000,000 people. Well, since they
know that is going to happen, why don't they shut power off to the affected
areas before hand, so they don't have to replace all the blown up
transformers?

Is it a liability issue; they would be sued if they cut power, so they let
nature do it?

We had a major ice storm here 14 years ago that took 2 weeks to recover
from. Someone I knew went to a hill overlooking the town and watched the
transformers blow up all over town; said it was spectacular.

They have to be careful who they turn off. Some people are on life
support equipment. Turning power off could kill them. When the power
does go off, they are the first ones restored.

Stretch

just because there are a lot of sparks etc, what makes you think that a
__transformer__ blew up?

every see what a high voltage (not a 120 Volt line) line does when it
touches the ground?

pretty spectacular

Mark

"Mark" wrote in message
oups.com...
just because there are a lot of sparks etc, what makes you think that a
__transformer__ blew up?

every see what a high voltage (not a 120 Volt line) line does when it
touches the ground?

pretty spectacular

Well, the electric company spent the next two weeks replacing transformers.
Or they lied to the newspapers about what they were doing; I can't say
which.

"Mark" wrote in message
oups.com...
just because there are a lot of sparks etc, what makes you think that a
__transformer__ blew up?


Could be from the pictures on the news showing transformers blowing up????

"Stretch" wrote in message
oups.com...
They have to be careful who they turn off. Some people are on life
support equipment. Turning power off could kill them. When the power
does go off, they are the first ones restored.

Stretch

I can appreciate the liability, but the power is going out anyway in a Cat 4
or 5 storm. Shut down ahead, it would be restored much faster for the rest
of the population. I'd think that at least some sections would be taken
out, away from hospitals. Many hospitals have backup power anyway for just
that reason.

Different areas of a citie's electrical distribution system have circuit
breakers which when tripped, can be seen from the ground (that they are
tripped)....

When we have had wind storms in my area, some lines will be knocked down and
will trip the circuit breakers for that area.

When they restore power, they drive around and inspect the circuit breakers
for each area as well as the main distribution lines. And visually inspect
all the lines which they will be powering up. (Could be something damaged
which did not trip a breaker.)

They bypass looking at areas which have tripped circuit breakers for the
time being.

Then they restore power to the main distribution lines. At this point, they
can pick and choose who gets their power restored first. Vital areas
(hospitals, etc.) have first priority. And will then inspect those specific
areas.

So seems to me that if power were not on during the wind storm, no breakers
would have tripped where lines came down, and it would take longer to
inspect everything (could not bypass looking at areas where breaker was
tripped).

And then there is the legal thing. I suppose someone would sue them if they
deliberately turned off power.

"Stretch" wrote in
oups.com:

They have to be careful who they turn off. Some people are on life
support equipment. Turning power off could kill them. When the power
does go off, they are the first ones restored.

Stretch



If I were on life support dependent on electric power,I would have a backup
generator.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

"Toller" wrote in
:


"Mark" wrote in message
oups.com...
just because there are a lot of sparks etc, what makes you think that
a __transformer__ blew up?

every see what a high voltage (not a 120 Volt line) line does when it
touches the ground?

pretty spectacular

Well, the electric company spent the next two weeks replacing
transformers. Or they lied to the newspapers about what they were
doing; I can't say which.




Transformers can "blow up" if they have too much load put on them,there can
be weak spots or stresses in the windings that fail under extreme loads.
With those power levels,that is why they "blow up".

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:

"Mark" wrote in message
oups.com...
just because there are a lot of sparks etc, what makes you think that a
__transformer__ blew up?


Could be from the pictures on the news showing transformers blowing up????

Could be the pictures actually show fuses blowing rather than
transformers themselves???

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:

"Stretch" wrote in message
oups.com...
They have to be careful who they turn off. Some people are on life
support equipment. Turning power off could kill them. When the power
does go off, they are the first ones restored.

Stretch

I can appreciate the liability, but the power is going out anyway in a Cat 4
or 5 storm. Shut down ahead, it would be restored much faster for the rest
of the population. I'd think that at least some sections would be taken
out, away from hospitals. Many hospitals have backup power anyway for just
that reason.

Probably not a significant difference in restoration time owing to much
of the damage being far more severe than just replacing fuses in a
transformer.

Well, the electric company spent the next two weeks replacing
transformers.
Or they lied to the newspapers about what they were doing; I can't say
which.

Or they just gave a 'simple answer' to the media. Better to just say
something people can grasp instead of something they'll misinterpret.
Telling them it's just a matter of manually resetting a breaker or replacing
a fuse might encourage some jackass to start climbing up poles to do it
himself and present a whole other rats nest of hassles.

In an ice storm you're screwed more by the weight on the wires pulling them
down or loose from their connections. That sort of problem wouldn't be
saved, really, by turning off the power. Think of it another way, if the
power was off and the lines failed, when power was turned back on they'd
still end up tripping or blowing something up. Better to have the dead
spots already detected by letting them blow out rather than have to hunt
them down one-by-one as you return power.

Fundamentally, unless the communities work to bury the lines properly
there's not much worth doing. The balancing act of long-term reliability vs
short-term trenching costs and disruptions always seems the end up the
latter. People are too stupid to recognize the long-term benefits. As long
as power doesn't go out 'too often' they only whine about it but do nothing
to get it solved.

"wkearney99" wrote in message

People are too stupid to recognize the long-term benefits. As long
as power doesn't go out 'too often' they only whine about it but do
nothing
to get it solved.

No, not too stupid, just to cheap to pay for it.

Down he road from me there is a community of about 40 houses with
underground wires. Problem is, they are fed with overhead wires that go
down in a breeze so they are often without power. No one is willing to
change it yet though. Not just reliability, just stop and look at the
overhead mess in some areas of the city.

wrote:

On Sun, 25 Sep 2005 14:38:42 -0400, "wkearney99"
wrote:

Fundamentally, unless the communities work to bury the lines properly
there's not much worth doing. The balancing act of long-term reliability vs
short-term trenching costs and disruptions always seems the end up the
latter. People are too stupid to recognize the long-term benefits.

Burying wires is not a panacea, particularly if flooding is an issue.
Undergrouind services are also a lot harder to troublershoot and fix
when they do fail.

Well, actually it does eliminate a sizable fraction of the
weather-related outage causes pretty effectively. It isn't practical
for really large lines nor for some areas for other reasons such as too
much stuff already buried or too much infrastructure in the way that
requires excessive initial cost, though...

Transmission cables can be traced pretty well w/ TDR, etc., for break
location and so on and it's not that much worse to dig than it is to
work up on a pole in freezing rain or high wind. Overall, I'd estimate
it's about a wash...

wrote:

On Sun, 25 Sep 2005 21:20:24 -0500, Duane Bozarth
wrote:

Well, actually it does eliminate a sizable fraction of the
weather-related outage causes pretty effectively. It isn't practical
for really large lines nor for some areas for other reasons such as too
much stuff already buried or too much infrastructure in the way that
requires excessive initial cost, though...

Transmission cables can be traced pretty well w/ TDR, etc., for break
location and so on and it's not that much worse to dig than it is to
work up on a pole in freezing rain or high wind. Overall, I'd estimate
it's about a wash...

If your worst fear is trees or ice I agree, when it is 6 feet of salt
water you really want those wires up on a pole.

It is also a lot easier to work in a bucket truck than to dig in a
crowded right of way. You don't accomplish much if you fix the power
line and take out a phone fiber.

But the six foot of salt water w/ storm surge takes the poles down
anyway...