So, Bonnie, Rick, rest'o ya :

Would you please share what plans have you made for alternative means of generating power, if any?

I am currently connected to the grid, and city gas supply. But, I have installed an inverter/battery bank and I've also set propane tanks in the yard. I am considering further contingencies based on industry progress.

If any NERC Execs are reading... I'm monitoring your progress. April 9th is a big day for you. Convince me you'll perform a valid test. My background? I'm an electrical engineer and computer scientist, degreed. I currently develop embedded systems software for a living. I won't be easily fooled...

Bob.

-- Anonymous, January 27, 1999

Answers

Bob,

You wrote...

If any NERC Execs are reading... I'm monitoring your progress. April 9th is a big day for you....

What is the significance of 9.apr.99?

-- Anonymous, January 27, 1999

Bradley, 9 April is the date for the first NERC industry wide test. The April test centers on communication disruptions. There's more information about this in the thread at:

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=000ITz

Bob, I've mentioned before that my husband and I had a stainless steel chimney liner installed and a big wood stove put in last year. We've been learning how to keep a nice even fire going by practicing. We declined to go in the direction of a generator because of the fuel storage problems, and since we live in an area which is notorious for its lack of "sun" days, solar didn't fit the bill either. We did recently get a vent-free propane heater and will have that connected to a tank this year. That's only a back-up, however, since we became unsure that if there was *very* cold weather that the wood stove could keep the pipes in our basement above freezing if the power was out.

-- Anonymous, January 27, 1999

Wood for heat, candles and a multi-fuel lantern for light,(it also puts out a lot of heat), a multi-fuel stove for cooking. Adapt the well pump to manual operation for water...

My original plans did not include electricity at all, (although I had checked into getting a Baygen radio!). I don't like the problems surrounding fuel storage. However; Last week I picked up a 10KW generator without an engine. It was a good deal and at the very worst I could connect it to the power take off of my garden tractor. I don't intend to rely on the juice though.

Steve

-- Anonymous, January 27, 1999

You know it has always bothered me why NRC would choose 4/9/99 and 9/9/99 as the "test" dates for the nukes. It is widely know in the informed Y2K crowd that these are suspect dates. It finally occurred to me why they would chose them. If the systems fail on these dates, the officials can say publicly it was only a "test" i.e. we are still in control of the system. If they don't fail, well then the systems work after all right. They can give the public some assurance through completing these "tests." However, there is no indication that I have seen that they will roll the clock to 1/1/2000 in these tests. It's just more spin and coverup going on here in my opinion.

-- Anonymous, January 28, 1999

Joseph,

Don't you think it would be more cost effective to have the extra people on staff anyway to do any fixes that might pop up, as well as to do testing simultaneously?

What better days to have lots of extra technicians on hand?

Jeff

-- Anonymous, January 28, 1999

Joseph,

I agree with Jeff here. I think it most responsible to test on these dates. Don't forget the panic factor. Panic is ugly. We don't need to go there. Blame it on anything you like as far as I'm concerned. Just fix it and make it go right on the "killer dates" or very soon thereafter.

-- Anonymous, January 28, 1999

I wanted to share with you all that hand pumps are getting scarce, as Steve Kulp mentioned he'd like to install one in his Jan. 27th letter. I recently installed one side-by-side with my electric submersible (you have to be careful that your lift cylinder below will clear the output pipe for the submersible in the same casing.) Be prepared to spend between $900 and a thousand for the whole installation. I'm talking the outdoor, freestanding, frost-free, cast-iron, some models also suitable for windmill type. Forget Lehman's or Cumberland Hrdwe.--backordered. I bought mine from a local plumbing supply distributor. Good luck.

-- Anonymous, February 21, 1999