US Faces Extended Power Outages, Largest Grid Builder Says
Because they haven’t been doing maintenance for a few years, we will see longer outages and we will see more frequent outages as storm season approaches. —John R. Colson, CEO, Quanta Services Inc., world’s largest transmission lines builder
related: When the Lights Go Out
Blackout 2003 Revisited
Blackouts: The Power Grid Is Too Sensitive for Its Own Good
Power Grid Raise Concerns Raised About Power Reliability
5 Years After Blackout, Power Grid Still in 'Dire Straits'
|
HOLLY NOTE: Having a portable generator is a way to the keep bare minimums functioning. Unless your great uncle died and left you a tidy sum, chances are you won't power your entire household in this manner. It's a stop-gap measure, whether for a day or a month, until electricity comes back on. Stan and I have used our diesel 5kV generators on numerous occasions, both here and while in Australia. They have paid for themselves many times over and are something we would never be without. Four summers ago we experienced 113ºF temps in a freak and miserable heatwave. Everyone used their AC just to keep even with the heat. This massive drag on the power grid caused everything to tank and Poof!, it went dark. Our neighbors had a newborn in their household who was suffering in the sweltering heat. She called franticly asking if she could bring the baby over because our AC worked, thanks to the generator. Having enough fuel on hand and understanding how to use a generator safely is imperative. There are ways to rejuvenate fuel and store it properly so you can use this emergency diesel or gas for years to come, not just months. It's important to know how big a generator you need and what type to get. Though we have a couple of 5kV generators, we've only had to run one. There's no reason to power everything in your home. Make do. Running all available appliances just chews up fuel. Having a generator let our business function as usual, made cooking meals by normal means possible, let us shower in warmth and escape life-sucking heat. In essence, having a generator enabled us to ride out this power outage – and others – in comfort. Give a generator some thought... To us, it's a prep imperative. |
January 21, 2009
By Katarzyna Klimasinska
Bloomberg
The U.S. faces longer power outages resulting from storms this year after utilities cut spending on maintenance by as much as 50%, according to Quanta Services Inc., the world’s largest builder of transmission lines.
“Because they haven’t been doing maintenance for a few years, we will see longer outages and we will see more frequent outages as storm season approaches,” Chief Executive Officer John R. Colson said yesterday in an interview in Bloomberg’s Houston office. “It’s a frequent, very frequent occurrence that cities are affected by storms that shouldn’t really affect their distribution systems, and they are devastated and they are out of electricity for days and days.”
Quanta, based in Houston, expects 2010 revenue from maintaining power lines and providing other electricity-distribution services to be little changed following a decline in 2009 because of the spending slowdown.
FPL Group Inc., which was fined a record $25 million for a Florida power failure, halted some projects targeting improvements in reliability in the state after it got a lower-than-requested rate increase on Jan. 13.
The Florida Public Service Commission also turned down a request for an increase in a storm-damage reserve from Raleigh, North Carolina-based Progress Energy Inc. earlier this month.
The biggest blackout in North American history started when a power line, owned by Akron, Ohio-based utility FirstEnergy Corp., touched a tree limb in August 2003. U.S. and Canadian investigators blamed its spread on Carmel, Indiana-based Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, the utility-owned non- profit that oversees that part of the power grid.
Election Year
Utilities cut their maintenance budgets over the last two or three years because they are uncertain whether they will recover the costs through a rate increase, according to Quanta’s Colson. Most of the regulators who decide on higher charges are appointed by governors who may face re-election this year and don’t want to see big rate increases before the vote, he said.
“When spring storms come, with the wind and tornados and lighting, it will show on the systems,” he said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601072&sid=aDEseYkg2RN8