Do you believe your power company?

[papaof2]

Our electric co-op dropped outageentry.com as their outage display service (it rarely showed all the outages and fell WAY behind during large outages) and went to an in-house outage page. Not perfect, but it did have ALL the outages marked. They now have a "new and improved" website - with no outage page.

I put in a complaint the first day about no longer having an outage page and it seems I wasn't the only one - after a few days, they're back to using outageentry.com again. The two positives for outageentry are that there's no popup of "Electricity is dangerous!" over the map that you must dismiss to see the map's content and you don't have to scroll the page to see the entire service area. Their in-house outage map could have had that fixed with a couple of tweaks if some idiot didn't think that ALL the pages must look the same, complete with a header that covers 25% of the page until you scroll it.

The outageentry.com page does load faster initially. We'll need some seriously bad weather (several thousand meters out) to see if they've resolved the "slowing down with many outages" problem.

[9idrr]

Ah, yes, the proverbial "new and improved" syndrome.

[papaof2]

I think the most common translation of "new and improved" is an old title: "The Emperor's New Clothes".

[papaof2]

The other power co-op has an interesting series of outages - total of 171 meters out, in blocks of 70 (yellow dot), 32 (green dot), 3 (blue dot) and then the map doesn't magnify any further - but there appear to be dozens of single outages (purple dots) under the yellow dot (the 70 meters).

While I was writing that, the total number went up to 273 and the yellow dot for 70 meters is now a larger orange dot for 158 meters with more of the purple dots for single outages and their total meters out in the county has climbed to 281 while I was typing that. I'm not aware of any problems (fire, whatever) in the area but it is interesting that a non-storm day has that type of spreading outage.

The area is just North of a local university so it could be in an apartment complex, which could possibly explain the single and multiple outages markers.

Curiouser and curiouser...

[papaof2]

Four hours later, the outage - just one under an orange dot) is 213 (map header says "211 total outages) and the ERT is 6AM tomorrow - that's about 11 hours after the initial report so I wonder what caused it?

There is a Google-found report of "broken power pole on private property" but that link is invalid so perhaps they can't get access to it tonight?

[papaof2]

Georgia Power has 881 meters out across the state. There's one outage caused by an "incident". It's in Maysville (pop 1800) and affects 491 meters. If each meter serves more than one person, that could mean half the city's residents are without power.

Nah, our infrastructure isn't fragile...

[papaof2]

At the current moment, both power co-ops look good - ours has 3 meters out and the other co-op has zero out. Georgia power has 14 of their 2.6 million meters out.

Care to guess what those numbers will be at this hour on Sunday? Much of the northeast corner of the state has 6 inches of snow on top of whatever ice they get.

No one is giving firm guesses on the amount of ice we'll see, but weather.com's hourly forecast has the Sunday snowfall at just over one inch. However, that's on top of however much of the Sateurday night/early Sunday morning "1 inch of rain" freezes with the windchill being 32 and lower in the hours between midnight Saturday and sometime Monday. Sunday's hourly forecast is "Rain" from midnight until 7AM when it becomes "Rain/Wind", with the wind at 20MPH and higher. Then "Rain/Snow/Wind" at 10AM amd then "Snow" for the next 5+ hours. That could be anything from a good dusting to several times the predicted "1 inch". The last snow forecast started with "one half to one inch on grassy surfaces" - we had 7 inches, elsewhere in the county had 12 inches, so I believe the snowfall that I measure with a ruler...

[papaof2]

The other power co-op in the county has four outages that were reported within minutes of 1AM. The outages are so close together that the normal map just shows one dot - at maximum magnification, it show two overlapping dots. I'd suspect something common - a vehicle hit a pole and knocked out a tranformer or possibly a vehicle hit a pad mount transformer and knocked out power to the houses it provides underground power to. It's also possible today's long, slow rain caused a problem or a wet animal got across the high voltage to a transformer. If there were a street address available, I could use Google Earth to pull us a sat picture of the area but their map enlargement doesn't go close enough to show minor intersections.

The other possibility is the four hours of freezing drizzle we are currently experiencing as the temperature drops below 32 - it's 30 at the moment. I expect some of the roads will be great places for the morning commute :-(

The ERT is 5:15AM - their standard ERT is 4 hours after the report.

[papaof2]

It's around noon, I'm in one of the windowless bathrooms when things go dark and I hear the "BEEP!" of a UPS.  No off, on, off, on, off to stay of a co-op circuit breaker being tripped.  Get the Fenix E12 out of my pocket, click it on and set it on the counter pointing up.  Mental note of the time on the battery-powered clock on the wall: 12:13PM.  Wash and dry my hands and then the E12 back in my pocket and me to the laptop to check the power co-op's status - the laptop has a new battery and the network equipment has UPS backup for about an hour.

There are outages of 1646 meters and 1808 meters.  The 1808 is all the meters supplied by our substation; the 1646 is another substation a few miles west of us.  Use their app on my phone to report the outage and the time of failure.  My better half is on the phone with the appliance repair shop - they were to come this afternoon for a problem with the HE clothes washer but that needs power and right now I will not be stressing my back by picking up a 50lb generator or even pulling its start cord.

My cup of hot chocolate cooled off while I was doing "power" things so pour it into a small pan, pan on one of the smaller burners, click the trigger on a grill lighter and get a flame, turn on the stove's burner and light it - who needs grid power?

Twenty minutes after things went dark, we again have light.  The co-op's online outage map shows one meter out on our substation (possibly my report via their app?) but the other substation is still at 1646.


The washer service call? They rescheduled that for next week.  The washer is still working but it's taking longer and making new noises between cycles: wash, (tick-tick-tick) rinse, (tick-tick-tick) spin.  The washer will be 9 years old next month and this is the first glitch, so perhaps decent service life for the current generation of similar appliances.


---


It's 1:32PM, the washer has finished the load that the above power outage interrupted and we're again in the dark.  No off, on, off, on, off to stay of a circuit breaker being tripped, just straight to dark.

The co-op's power outage page shows 926 meters out, probably just the substation's "Feed-4" that provides power to us and others along two-plus miles of tree-lined roads.  The outage map shows the point of failure as the substation itself - that's a fault/failure we'll never know the details of.  Two minutes later, our power is back.

Thirty minutes later, the co-op's outage page still shows 48 meters out.  App-reported outages that they haven't yet verified to be clear or some real failures during the big outage?

[gipsy]

Do you ever feel like a Yo Yo?

[papaof2]

Yo-yo with shock absorbers - a half-dozen UPS units (most bought at clearance or gotten for zip on Craig's List) keep things running for 30 minutes to an hour after power is lost. That's plenty of time to explore the size of outage and any notes the co-op may have about it and to then decide among waiting for power to be restored, switching essentials (fridge, freezer, central heat) to the solar-charged backup system or getting out a small generator.

Today, I turned off the UPS units on the main level (noise mot needed - I know the power is off ;-) and just waited for the next shoe to fall. Much easier to be laid back about yet-another-power-outage when you have a flashlight at hand and silent overnight power available at the flip of a few breakers.

Had the first outage hit the 30 minute mark, I'd have moved some things to the backup system until power was restored or we got a "Power back tomorrow" type message. The "tomorrow" message would have had me getting the inverter gen out of the shed (probably using the better half's hands and back) to power essential things and to ensure the backup system's batteries were fully charged for overnight power.

[papaof2]

That washer service call? Ridiculously expensive for the shift mechanism (motor-driven cams that switch the transmission from "agitate" to "spin". The part is under $30 (Amazon and eBay) but I can't lay the washer down on its front to get to the bottom of the transmission to replace the shifter and then pick the washer back up again (I hate being old and having back problems). In the far distant past, that "shifter" was an AC solenoid that moved the shift lever with a solid "Thunk!" and it almost never needed replacement (the motor-driven cams are another "improvement" in design). I even replaced the transmission in an old top loader back in the dark ages - lots cheaper than replacing the washer ;-)

The repair job? Diagnose the problem - noise happens between cycles so when switching between agitate (wash or rinse) and spin so the only common thing is the shifter. Lay washer down, remove two screws holding plastic guard in place, remove two screws holding shifter in place. Set new shifter cams to match removed shifter, new shifter in place, replace those two screws, replace plastic guard and two screws, lift washer back up. Maybe 15 minutes total. This shifter died at age 9. Wonder if I should order one for use when this one dies in 9 years?

Looking forward to the MRI Thursday and getting the DVD to the PA and the back surgeon for analysis. Maybe cortisone injections will resolve the back problem? The Tramadol does relieve the pain but I'd prefer to have the cause of the pain eliminated.

Doing some pain analysis on my own this week (physical therapist is on vacation), so I skipped exercises Sunday and had NO pain in the worst place on my back. After one set of exercises Monday, that pain was back. That's a data point for the PA and/or surgeon to mull over. Not sure how much of the exercise routine I'll be doing but I'll plan do one of the four exercises and see what my pain level is 30 minutes later, then another exercise and wait 30 minutes, etc. If the pain is keyed to one specific exercise, I'll make notes for the therapist and skip that exercise for the rest of the week.

[9idrr]

See here now, there ya go, thinkin' for yourself. Don't ya know that ain't encouraged any more?
Actually, it'd be nice if'n your medical providers paid attention to your observations. Here's hopin' they do just that.

[papaof2]

I decided to make the time between exercises an hour instead of 30 minutes so I got two of the four exercises done today. There's a little pain but not as bad as yesterday. Tomorrow I'll do the other two exercises with an hour between them - unless the first one triggers yesterday's pain level but if it does then I'll have found the culprit, which is the entire point of this process.

[papaof2]

Our power co-op sent out an announcement that they're adding instant texting about power outages to the affected members.

If you're away from home, that just lets you know there may be a problem when you get home, which might be useful: Ring! "Thompson Roofing." "Honey, tell Teresa Thompson dinner is off because we don't have power. I didn't want to listen to an hour of his whining about the sub-prime loan defaults anyway."

If you're home, you'll probably be aware of the outage several minutes before the co-op sends the text ;-)

I'd rather they had put their efforts into better response when I report an outage - sometimes those outage reports never make it to their outage map.

[papaof2]

Georgia Power has an outage of 3821 meters in Morrow, Georgia.

Reason?
"We are aware of an outage in your area. We are evaluating the outage and working to determine an estimated restoration time."

The time estimate they already have (about 2 hours) so is this a problem with aging infrastructure or do we look for hidden causes. Not that they're likely to admit terrorism. More likely that they would say "Equipment failure" and not give any details - about what the current message says.

The 900+ meters out in Savannah are under a passing thunderstorm and easily explained but the weather up here is sunny.

Time for some Twilight Zone music?

[papaof2]

The weather radio alarmed twice in maybe 10 minutes - Severe Thunderstorm Warning - but it's 15 miles North of us and moving Southeast, which should not be a concern. However, the sky is heading toward black and I'm turning on more inside lights, the wind is up and I hear thunder. I'm beginning to question how accurate the NWS weather radar is in our area.

I've watched the weather radar from one local TV ststion and the storm is NOT moving as the NWS predicted - there's a section of heavy weather less than 7 miles from us and not moving the same as the rest of this storm.

I was correct - our power co-op has 400 meters out a few miles West of us and NOT under the warning area. The other co-op in the county has 4200 meters out, all under the warning area. Georgia Power has 28,000 meters out, almost all under the warning area.

Our power co-op isn't doing well today. 5 hours after the thunderstorms passed they have 18 customers that have been without power for 9 hours, 1 that's been without power for 11 hours, 15 that have been without power for 15 to 18 hours, 3 that have been without power for almost 23 hours - none of those are related to today's thunderstorms that didn't start until after 5PM. Perhaps my paranoia about having backup power has a solid basis in my power provider?

Don't think this old body could manage most of a day at 90F+ without air conditioing :-( Guess I could make all the local fast food places: lunch at McD's, then a Coke at Hardees, then cold water at the convenience store, then supper at the pizza place, then another water, then a Coke, then... Or maybe just use tarps and blankets to make a 6 by 6 room in front of the window A/C in the garage (hanging things from the garage door tracks and screwing things to the wall) and run that A/C from backup power and/or the inverter gen (about 8 hours on a gallon of gas if using the inverter gen for just that load - put the inverter gen in the shed, open the top of the shed's window - there are two vents probably big enough for the needed incoming air - and run a long extension cord to the house). Three cushions from one sofa would make an almost-adequate bed if I had to sleep there.

[papaof2]

The weather is warm (89, feels like 91) and windy - gusting to 22MPH - but Georgia Power had 8000+ meters out across the state 15 minutes ago. However, that's now up to 9000+. Some big outages from "tree down": 670, 1000+ meters. Some "We're aware of an outage" (one affecting 1200+ meters about 4 miles West of us) and more of the same elsewhere.
Our power co-op has multiple outages affecting a total of 660 meters - all West or Northwest of us. The other power co-op has only has 330 meters out but most of those are in one of the "Country Club" areas - folks who either have the $$$$ for whole house power or the influence of political connections for quick repair - or both ;-)

So far, I've not heard a single "Beep" from a UPS.

Are we seeing a pattern of *relatively* small grid failures that will be with us for the summer, or will it get worse as the temperatures rise? Cue 'Twilight Zone' music - or the sound of practical people counting their pennies to find some level of alternate power...

[papaof2]

Georgia Power still has 5600+ meters out across the state. 3890 in the middle of the state (Milledgeville) with most of them "Weather related" or "We are experiencing widespread outages" and a lot of the outages are already several hours past the original ERT. Metro Atlanta has 1500+ meters out with two "tree caused" outages accounting for almost 1000 of the meters out.

Not a good day for the power guys who thought they had the weekend off...

[papaof2]

Georgia Power's big outage in middle Georgia is down to 38 outages affecting 2800+ meters, with ERT's of 2PM tomorrow to "Assessing Condition". It's an area of mostly small towns and lots of farming so repairs could take a while. With a number of the larger outage blocks (several hundred meters each) having the same ERT, I wonder if the failure is something common, such as a high-line section that must be replaced.

[papaof2]

Those 2800+ meters out in middle Georgia with 2PM ERT? That's down to 1200+ meters with ERTs of 5PM, 6PM, 8PM or 10PM. The cause? "Severe weather". It's gotta be hot down there with power off for almost 24 hours and possibly 7 hours to go...

[papaof2]

Nice day, but a bit hot - 97F, feels like 99F, wind 10MPH, no storms. Our power co-op has an outage West of us (594 meters) that's more than an hour old. Georgia power has an outage of 1539 meters East of I-285 with an ERT of 6:30PM - no cause listed, just "We are aware of an outage".

You think maybe the less-than-perfectly-maintained grid is failing from the heat?

[papaof2]

As the heat has stayed, so have the Georgia Power failures. These have occurred in the hour since the previous post:

meters - time
1749 - 8PM
1137 - Assessing Condition
301 - 8:15PM

The YouTubers talking about summer power outages just might be correct...

[papaof2]

Not sure if it's thunderstorm activity or something else - our power co-op does not put "Cause" on the online outage page. They've had one block of 454 meters out for almost 3 hours but the current radar map makes a thunderstorm an unlikely culprit. That might be one to watch for a while and maybe see if the local news mentions it. There are a lot of houses in the distance but nothing close to the intersection that failure is marked at - other than a lot of aerial high voltage distribution lines. Maybe an accident took out a pole? Checking the history of the intersection, this would not be the first time there's been a powerline down at that location. Per homemetry.com there have been at least 5 "powerline down" incidents there. I'm not surprised, considering the poor choice of angles at the intersection, but lots of roads were once cattle trails and the cows just took the easiest path...

[papaof2]

Those 454 meters out? They'e still out and it's been almost 7 hours. I'm curious what happened but not curious enough to drive there and look, plus yesterday was a bad day with my back (multiple Rx pain meds) and today has not been a good day (one Rx pill so far). Think I'll just stay home and see if it turns up online somewhere...