The gov't says there could be "local outages"...no big deal. Except that it seems that wherever I am appears to me to be local!! If one of these "local" outages is in the middle of the NE, will the powers of the grid be able to send needed power up there from, say, Florida where we are not in danger of freezing to death?

What about islanding? I have talked with a local y2k officer of a local power company. He says they are ready. But also says, if he sees where HIS CUSTOMERS are not going to get power he will island in a hot second. Can he do that? I mean can he ethically and legally do that? If independent power companys start islanding all over the country, what happens to the grid? Is there such a thing as being down stream or at the end of the line when it comes to power/grid? I mean this literally. OUr co op generates no power. So can/would the grid bypass us in order to preserve what they have working? Also within our own co op's distribution lines, our farm is the last one on the line and it then becomes Florida Power and LIght. Does that have any meaning when one starts talking about low voltage, brown outs, etc. Does the guy close to the plant get a brown out and we get a black out? And last but not least, if companies start islanding and it DOES affect the grid, will the gov't step in and take control and start making the decisions as to who gets what, how much, when and where? As you can tell, I am a very enlightened electrical person (not). But I am hell with an oil lamp!! LOL

Taz..sittin' in the dark a wonderin'.

-- Anonymous, September 02, 1999

Answers

I think it's more like an internet connection. If your ISP has software problems and their servers crash, then you get no weeb, pronto! Switching EUs is not done, but ha ha, next year with dereg it should be possible, but even then, if your local power distributor keeps tripping, it doesn't matter whether you buy power from FL or NY, no Juice. Every switch from the power plant to your house has to be in the ON position and energized before you get juice at the socket. It takes only one tripped switch...

My utility (SaskPower) has already said that if TSHTF (electrically speaking), they will islnad, despite their legal contracts. "We can't save everybody" or words to that effect. They currently do allow wheeling of electricity from neighbouring provinces and states.

-- Anonymous, September 03, 1999

My electric co. is a co-op. If you don't know from whom your co-op buys electricity, find out. This may give you an idea of what you might find: my co-op (call that the first loop in the chain) buys electricity from a company (second loop in chain) who buys electricity and sells it to co-ops. Where and from whom does this company buy electricity? They buy some from a coal-fired plant (third loop in chain) hundreds of miles away from my co-op. They buy some from a hydro plant (fourth loop in chain) hundreds of miles from my co-op. They buy some from a nuclear plant (fifth loop in chain) hundreds of miles away from my co-op. Now, if all that works and there are no glitches in my co-op's computers, lines, and communication (sixth loop in chain) , I will have electricity. I do not think I will have electricity and therefore no water. I am fully prepared to do without their electricity and the water co.'s water.

-- Anonymous, September 04, 1999