This afternoon will be exactly one week without power...

[dfuze]

My power was brought back by a crew on Oklahoma on Thursday... I haven't seen a single CL&P truck during the entire power outage.

Don't forget that while you're stuck with CL&P as your power transmitter, you can choose your generation provider in Connecticut. Vote with your wallet, and choose anyone other than CL&P! Odds are that your rates will be lower as well... mine were.

Mine was restored by PIKE out of North Carolina.

I think I will be looking at changing my provider, but wouldn't we still be at the mercy of CL&P to repair the lines if something like this happens again?

 

[ShawnD1]

If I were the power companies I would issue warnings to all homeowners and towns... if tree branches are not trimmed and then collapse and cause power outages, it will be a hefty fine. Done.

Cities have a nasty habit of wanting trees everywhere to make the area look nicer. While it absolutely does look nice with trees, don't do that when there are power lines nearby!!!!


Newer areas have buried cable and you can put trees anywhere you want. Planting trees or not trimming trees near power or communication poles is just irresponsible, and it happens all the time.

 

[seepy83]

Mine was restored by PIKE out of North Carolina.

I think I will be looking at changing my provider, but wouldn't we still be at the mercy of CL&P to repair the lines if something like this happens again?

Yes. Your billing would still be through CL&P (like mine will still be through UI), but your electric bill is split in two parts - Generation and Delivery. CL&P is responsible for the delivery (all of the power lines in the area), but you would be buying the electricity from someone else.

ctenergyinfo.com has all of the info for anyone in Connecticut. If you read the FAQs, it explains that CL&P and UI no longer own power plants. They don't actually generate electricity for any of their customers. They have to purchase electricity from other power plants, and then pass on the cost to their customers. They aren't even allowed to make money off of the electricity that they buy and resell to customers, so UI and CL&P often encourage their customers to buy it from someone else.

 

[jhansman]

Yet another reason why I live in the temperate zone. COL is higher, yes, but far fewer headaches from weather.

 

[dfuze]

^^ It's not normally this bad here, it was this time because it arrived so early. The leaves on the trees gave more places for the wet snow to hold onto, caused the branches to be heavier until even the thickest of branches couldn't hold up.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally Posted by dmcowen674
But be sure and pay your double, triple and quadruple electric rates for the so called "Smart Grid" in the meantime.

Did a power line touch you as a child?

Seriously, anyone that has a clue about the power grid knows that the US grid is woefully outdated and fragile. I'm not talking about the lines that run the last few miles, I'm talking about the major transmission lines. Yet you seem to think that any improvement is some evil moneygrab.

Three weeks after Hurricane Gloria on Long Island I watched in horror along with half of our block as a Power crew guy from Ohio who came in to help was instantly turned into charcoal when a line he thought was not energized fried him.

So it's our fault the electric companies who have been clearly making a profit all these years or they would not still be in business that they have not upgraded "their woefully outdated and fragile" grid and we must pay quadruple more?

What Energy scamming company do you work for?

 

[Doppel]

Three weeks after Hurricane Gloria on Long Island I watched in horror along with half of our block as a Power crew guy from Ohio who came in to help was instantly turned into charcoal when a line he thought was not energized fried him.

Stop lying. I happen to have it on good authority that during this time you were a psychiatric inpatient. What you think you remember is nothing more than fiction you created.

EDIT: The above is a joke, although I do think mc mcowen needs such attention.

 

[dank69]

FFS just called comcast to see when they will be able to fix our phone/cable/internet and they said nov 19th.

Fuck that shit. The second there is a competitor in my neighbor hood I am gone. I may even consider satellite now.

 

[Bignate603]

Originally Posted by dmcowen674
Three weeks after Hurricane Gloria on Long Island I watched in horror along with half of our block as a Power crew guy from Ohio who came in to help was instantly turned into charcoal when a line he thought was not energized fried him.

So it's our fault the electric companies who have been clearly making a profit all these years or they would not still be in business that they have not upgraded "their woefully outdated and fragile" grid and we must pay quadruple more?

What Energy scamming company do you work for?

What does a lineman making a mistake have to do with the smart grid? Honestly, if the lineman got electrocuted the person at fault was probably himself or one of the guys working right there with him. It's their responsibility to check if a line is live and they have ways to do it without risking themselves. The power company has no way of knowing exactly where a break in the line is so they can't tell what part is live and what part is dead.