4th day with no power

[Jstpssng]

We have a lot of large timberland ownerships up here. The coop which serves me encourages everyone to cut a swath along the powerline when they are cutting in the area. That's one reason we have so few outages, although it would never fly in more populated areas. Another reason is that they serve a relatively small area and are locally owned (Hence the Coop), vs being owned by a conglomerate. We also are one of the few places in the nation where all of our power comes out of Canada.

There's a movement in the state to change all of that and force the power companies to sell to the state, because EVERYONE knows how much better the government is at running things.

 

[Gem99ultra]

Long duration power outages can be difficult to handle. We have them too often, but being rural and a bit self sufficent we can handle them much better then the folks in town who are so used to never having interruptions that last more then a couple of minutes. We have been over a week several times in the winter, makes you appreciate fuel and generators.

I sure feel for you. We've become totally dependent on having electricity. (And NOW they want to make our cars electric?)

It only takes once to figure out the things that one needs in case of a power outage. We have the usual things but in addition I bought a 330 gallon plastic bulk bin and keep it full. Occasionally I'll hit it wit a cup or so of bleach to keep it pure. The 330 gallons will run us long enough to get out our 10K generator and get that hooked up.

Even so, with all the pre-outage preparation, the best solution is to NOT have an outage. Will we ever reach that stage? It makes me wish Mr. Tesla had lived a bit longer.

 

[EddieWalker]

So far, we haven't had a power outage during the Summer, it's only happened in Winter. Worse was 5 days without power because of a big snow storm. Here in East Texas, we don't have snow plows or anything to deal with ice and snow. We survived just fine from the wood stove, and little Honda generator.

Since then, I got a used 10,000 watt duel fuel generator and two 50 gallon propane bottles. Both bottles are full, plus the small bottles for the Weber grill.

My long term plan is to connect natural gas to my house and get a bigger generator to power the entire house. Our biggest concern is not having AC in summer. I can't imagine what it was like for people living here before AC became so common.

 

[caver]

My dad talked about sleeping on the screened in porch as a kid in NE Missouri.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

Maybe a dumb question, but how do the out of state linemen, who obviously aren't familiar with the area know how the local grid is laid out? It would seem they'd need to do a lot of scouting around to find where the breakers/fuses or line interrupters are located to de-energize/energize a section of line.

ArcGIS mapping. Every utility pole with transformers and fuses and every feeder circuit where it branches off gets a GPS coordinate. Same with utility vaults and ground mount transformers.
Most utility maintenance vehicles have GPS on board. They can receive a work order remotely and drive to it by viewing a live map that gives them thier location in relationship to the location of the work that may need to be performed.

 

[Jchonline]

Last Thursday afternoon we got hit with 80 mph straight line winds here in Central Illinois. Power went out about 1:30 pm. Reports claim over 1200 poles damaged or destroyed. Power is still out for over 50,000 as of today. This is the first time in 23 years of living here that power has been off for more than 12 hours. We've been given false estimates of restoration twice now. Power was supposed to be restored yesterday at 12:15 pm. That came and went. Then an estimate of 12:15 am for this morning didn't happen as well. Apologies were issued after both failures. Luckily we have a small generator for phone charging, freezer, and fridge. We have no water other than bottled, pool, and rain collected. Fun times! Now it's just a waiting game.

Years ago we lived through a major hurricane in Houston and were without power for days. At our house now I have 15kw battery bank for instant backup power on 10 circuits including all mechanicals (well, heating, boost pump, etc), kitchen, office, and bedrooms. 1100 gallon water cistern in the basement. We can charge the batteries via a generator if they get low. Never again!

In the Winter here we do get over 90 mph gusts but everything is designed to withstand it. Sorry you are having to deal with the outage.

 

[NoTrespassing]

Maybe a dumb question, but how do the out of state linemen, who obviously aren't familiar with the area know how the local grid is laid out? It would seem they'd need to do a lot of scouting around to find where the breakers/fuses or line interrupters are located to de-energize/energize a section of line.

I would hope the local company would have in-house schematics/maps or whatever to share with outside crews. I can't speak from experience.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Maybe a dumb question, but how do the out of state linemen, who obviously aren't familiar with the area know how the local grid is laid out? It would seem they'd need to do a lot of scouting around to find where the breakers/fuses or line interrupters are located to de-energize/energize a section of line.

Most company's send a bird dog with us to help guide us around and usually you will get paper maps of the circuits that they assign to you to restore power on , usually your bird dog who is one of the host company's men will be your radio man between us and the host utility's dispatch center, we coordinate with them to verify that no other crews are working on the feeder that we are about to energize, we also ride it out to verify that no one has slipped in and started work prior to energizing, it's a process that is sometimes slow and aggravating but is necessary to restore power without getting anyone killed, I have never been involved in storm restoration where it was done via GPS.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

Maybe a dumb question, but how do the out of state linemen, who obviously aren't familiar with the area know how the local grid is laid out? It would seem they'd need to do a lot of scouting around to find where the breakers/fuses or line interrupters are located to de-energize/energize a section of line.

Both Utilities that I worked with on Arc-GIS mapping are now using smart meters to locate outages as well as the mapping system.
The use of smart meters relay near real time information to determine scope of outages. As well as gives them "time of use" billing for added charges.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Both Utilities that I worked with on Arc-GIS mapping are now using smart meters to locate outages as well as the mapping system.
The use of smart meters relay near real time information to determine scope of outages. As well as gives them "time of use" billing for added charges.

Yes, that is pretty standard these days at most utilities, but for storm restoration where it requires the help of out of state crews it is almost always paper maps, sometimes you just get a feeder and sometimes you get a whole substation with multiple feeders to restore power to, most utilities have priority feeders such as hospitals and shelters, schools etc for priority #1 feeders and then move to sewer lift stations , big subdivisions, etc for priority #2 feeders. What always amazed me is how clueless some company's are about restoration and how un-organized they are, running around like chickens with their heads cut off, you can tell the people who have been thru it a bunch, they are organized, you eat an elephant ONE BITE AT A TIME, it's just another day for lineman , we are used to working in inclement weather and long hours, it's most of the other people around us who are out of their element.