The Energy Thread

[Mormon Red Death]

Good thing there is no more nuclear power in California.

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[Jeff Lebowski]

Good grief. California is so stupid sometimes.

[Uncle Ted]

I am unaware of any significant fires in NorCal. So maybe it worked? For me the upshot (does anyone say that anymore?) was the following:

1. Delayed my flu shot as my local purveyor of same lost all their vaccine when their refrigerators had no power due to the outage.
2. I am going to buy a big-ass generator.
3. And some more guns.
4. And lots of ammo.
5. Then I am going to figure out who else in my neighborhood has food storage.

Yeah, you will need the guns and ammo to protect your generator... It sounds like these power outages will be the new norm:

PG&E’s Big Blackout Is Only the Beginning
[...]
The Wall Street Journal detailed in April how PG&E intended to use the outages, known as public safety power shut-offs, to reduce wildfire risk, a strategy that carries consequences for medically vulnerable populations who rely on electric devices to survive, and businesses that could lose customers and inventory.


Such outages are unlikely to end soon because utilities are liable under California law for wildfire damage caused by their equipment, even if they aren’t negligent. That makes fires a serious threat to drive the companies into insolvency.
[...]
“We must have zero risk of a spark,” said PG&E Chief Executive Bill Johnson. “We will very likely have to make this kind of decision again in the future.”
[...]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/pg-es-b...ng-11570909816

[Uncle Ted]

Yeah, the bankrupt PG&E should give everyone a refund! Then raise the rates on everyone to pay for them.

California Governor Calls for Refunds From PG&E After Blackouts

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday called for PG&E Corp. to issue refunds to consumers and small businesses after last week’s shutoff of power to about two million Californians intended to help avert potential wildfires.

Many across Northern California who lost power for up to several days last week complained of financial losses, with some businesses saying they totaled tens of thousands of dollars.

In letters to the company and top regulators, the governor asked PG&E Chief Executive Bill Johnson to provide those affected with an automatic credit or rebate of $100 per residential customer and $250 per small business. The Democrat said the rebates should be funded by shareholders of the bankrupt company, not ratepayers.

Regulations don’t require PG&E to cover losses related to intentional blackouts, and the company previously has said it generally won’t do so, though it would consider claims case by case. PG&E officials didn’t immediately comment on the governor’s letter.
[...]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/califor...ts-11571093395

[creekster]

My wife sometimes asks me about upping our food storage. I tell her, "Honey, if it ever gets to the point that you actually need your two-year supply of food, the only storage that will matter is your gun/ammo stash." Maybe so you can kill yourself.

She doesn't like that answer.

My wife doesn't like that joke, either. But she knows it is probably true.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I am unaware of any significant fires in NorCal. So maybe it worked? For me the upshot (does anyone say that anymore?) was the following:

1. Delayed my flu shot as my local purveyor of same lost all their vaccine when their refrigerators had no power due to the outage.
2. I am going to buy a big-ass generator.
3. And some more guns.
4. And lots of ammo.
5. Then I am going to figure out who else in my neighborhood has food storage.

My wife sometimes asks me about upping our food storage. I tell her, "Honey, if it ever gets to the point that you actually need your two-year supply of food, the only storage that will matter is your gun/ammo stash." Maybe so you can kill yourself.

She doesn't like that answer.

[creekster]

So whaddya think, North Californianos? Was the power outage worth the mitigation of the risk? I heard there were still some brutal fires this weekend.

I am unaware of any significant fires in NorCal. So maybe it worked? For me the upshot (does anyone say that anymore?) was the following:

1. Delayed my flu shot as my local purveyor of same lost all their vaccine when their refrigerators had no power due to the outage.
2. I am going to buy a big-ass generator.
3. And some more guns.
4. And lots of ammo.
5. Then I am going to figure out who else in my neighborhood has food storage.

[Katy Lied]

So whaddya think, North Californianos? Was the power outage worth the mitigation of the risk? I heard there were still some brutal fires this weekend.

[Bo Diddley]

That transfer switch also protects utility workers working on the lines connected to your house.

[Uncle Ted]

Couldn't you just turn of the breakers for the circuits you don't want to be powered by the generator?

Yeah, you can do it manually. So when the power goes own you would flip the transfer switch to the generator, turn off the breakers you don't need powered up so you don't overload your generator's VA rating, and then fire up the generator. That is pretty much how I have my generator wired.

I have a friend that put in a fancy natural gas generator for his house. He spent the money to have it fire up automatically if the power goes out in case he was traveling when it happened. It doesn't have the capacity to power the whole house so he had the electrician split his panel. Plus he put in a fancy transfer switch that would automatically switch over to the generator. He was traveling when we were hit by a huge storm which knocked out the power for a few days. The generator for some reason didn't automatically start so he ended up losing all his food anyway and his basement flooded because the sump pump didn't have power.

[creekster]

Yeah, you can wire in what is called a transfer switch on the main. Of course, you may not want to power all the circuits in the house off the generator (e.g., you don't want to buy a big, fat generator). In that case you need to separate the circuits you want to run off the generator into a sub circuit and wire the transfer switch to just that box.

Couldn't you just turn of the breakers for the circuits you don't want to be powered by the generator?

[Uncle Ted]

That sucks. I didn't think about the food going bad with the electricity down. With a generator, is there an easy way to have it hook into the whole house, or do you have to run extension cables to each appliance/whatever that needs power?

Yeah, you can wire in what is called a transfer switch on the main. Of course, you may not want to power all the circuits in the house off the generator (e.g., you don't want to buy a big, fat generator). In that case you need to separate the circuits you want to run off the generator into a sub circuit and wire the transfer switch to just that box.

[Pelado]

We got power back this morning. We were down for 48 hours, and it was manageable. What we have learned is the following:

1. We are purchasing a generator.
2. We need more candles, battery powered lanterns, and candles.
3. We need a few electric space heaters.

We ended up having to throw out around $500 worth of groceries this morning...as I just didn't trust any of it. We didn't open the fridge for two days, but when the power came on this morning I threw my thermapen in there and it was 61 degrees (57 in the outside fridge). So everything went to the dump.

This wont be the last power outage that we get through this PSPS program. I can understand why they are doing it though. Just in my community there were 3 downed lines due to wind/limb strikes. All 3 would have caused some sort of fire. But it is a huge PITA.

We aren't going to go cheap on the generator as it will end up paying for itself by us not having to throw food out.

That sucks. I didn't think about the food going bad with the electricity down. With a generator, is there an easy way to have it hook into the whole house, or do you have to run extension cables to each appliance/whatever that needs power?

[The_Tick]

We got power back this morning. We were down for 48 hours, and it was manageable. What we have learned is the following:

1. We are purchasing a generator.
2. We need more candles, battery powered lanterns, and candles.
3. We need a few electric space heaters.

We ended up having to throw out around $500 worth of groceries this morning...as I just didn't trust any of it. We didn't open the fridge for two days, but when the power came on this morning I threw my thermapen in there and it was 61 degrees (57 in the outside fridge). So everything went to the dump.

This wont be the last power outage that we get through this PSPS program. I can understand why they are doing it though. Just in my community there were 3 downed lines due to wind/limb strikes. All 3 would have caused some sort of fire. But it is a huge PITA.

We aren't going to go cheap on the generator as it will end up paying for itself by us not having to throw food out.

[Uncle Ted]

How will Creek and PAC charge their Tesla's?

Electric-Car Owners Hard Hit by Massive California Power Shutdown

• Nearly a million Californians are now without power as the electric company deliberately shut it off this week, fearing high winds would spark wildfire.
• The affected area in Northern California surrounds Fremont, home of Tesla, and a great many electric-car owners who can't charge their vehicles as usual.
• Tesla's Elon Musk is swapping in battery Powerpacks and solar power for Superchargers in the region as fast as he can get permits, he claims on Twitter.

[...]

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a2...wn-california/



Charging stations on diesel generators.... They have thought of everything!