On Sun, Jul 22, 2001 at 11:23:09PM -0400, Paul M Foster wrote:
> Heh heh. I suspect the problem is less severe than it's made out to be by
> the press. Not that there isn't a problem, but I haven't heard of, for
> instance, all of SFO or all of SAC going dark. From what I've heard, it's
> just certain areas of certain cities. Of course, that doesn't help the
> poor schmuck whose A/C kicks off during the blackout. And if you live in
> SFO, you don't _need_ an air conditioner. ;-}
Or Oakland, for that matter. Actually most of the bay has been pretty
cool this past week. I haven't seen it get above 85F in San Jose for quite
a few days, and there's a constant breeze. On the certain areas bit, many
companies have their own procedures for the various stages of power usage.
I think their are three states for it, and if I recall correctly they are
'no problem', 'problem if $usage persists for $time', 'shutting down
portions of grid to ease pressure for $time'. My customer has a computer
system that automatically shuts off lights for areas that aren't needed.
There are motion sensors for those areas, and they will turn back on if
they're needed, then shut off after 5 minutes or so. Just that little bit
helps save their grid (of which they completely occupy) from being turned
off. Other things include datacenter readiness for power outages, kicking
in backup generators for a few hours and letting their normal power source
have a break. It's pretty neat.
> I recently read some propaganda^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^literature from APC, and
> they say that Southern California (LA) has plenty of generating capacity,
> but the transmission lines to the north are inadequate to transmit the
> power to other places where it's needed. So they have fewer blackouts
> there. Wish I'd saved the magazine; it was pretty informative.
I think a more pressing problem is water shortage in some counties in
central California. A lot of farmers are having a hard time this season,
and for political reasons aren't getting access to the water they need.
Many are growing dry crops without a choice in the matter. I participate
in a local community supported agriculture (CSA) program and I've been
getting dry-grown tomatoes for the last few weeks. Remarkably, they're
still some of the best tomatoes I've ever had. ;)
> Paul
--
- Isaiah
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