Rolling Blackouts Unfair

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mark28277

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So the weather is cold and the energy company needs to cut power in order to keep strain off the power grid. What I have been noticing is that they are mostly cutting power to one section of the city. Why would this be? I mean they should treat the city equal and let everyone have a fair share of a rolling blackout.
 
mark28277 said:
So the weather is cold and the energy company needs to cut power in order to keep strain off the power grid. What I have been noticing is that they are mostly cutting power to one section of the city. Why would this be? I mean they should treat the city equal and let everyone have a fair share of a rolling blackout.
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That section probably has no hospitals etc that need power
Also could just be housing
 
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mark28277 said:
So the weather is cold and the energy company needs to cut power in order to keep strain off the power grid. What I have been noticing is that they are mostly cutting power to one section of the city. Why would this be? I mean they should treat the city equal and let everyone have a fair share of a rolling blackout.
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How long are the brownouts lasting?
 
mark28277 said:
So the weather is cold and the energy company needs to cut power in order to keep strain off the power grid. What I have been noticing is that they are mostly cutting power to one section of the city. Why would this be? I mean they should treat the city equal and let everyone have a fair share of a rolling blackout.
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What are you talking about?
Why are you asking random people on the internet why some random power company in some unknown city is doing something? Did they not say?
 
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parcelboy2 said:
That section probably has no hospitals etc that need power
Also could just be housing
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Well it’s both housing and businesses. It’s a similar setup all over the city.
 
SparkyDog said:
How long are the brownouts lasting?
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Up to a few hours.
 
BunnyFofo said:
What are you talking about?
Why are you asking random people on the internet why some random power company in some unknown city is doing something? Did they not say?
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I just explained in my original posting what the are doing. Please re-read. I would have thought that they would have done the rolling blackouts equally throughout the city. Most of the rolling blackouts have been on the wealthier side of the city.
 
mark28277 said:
Up to a few hours.
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That makes sense
gives relief to the grid and you won't freeze in 2-3 hours
rolling brownouts are very popular way to ease grid demand
not sure what they will do when more of the population has electric cars but that's an other conversation.

as mentioned before they likely target the brownouts to areas with no critical infrastructure.
 
To me the question isn't why are there brownouts, the question is why is there insufficient supply?
 
mark28277 said:
I just explained in my original posting what the are doing. Please re-read. I would have thought that they would have done the rolling blackouts equally throughout the city. Most of the rolling blackouts have been on the wealthier side of the city.
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No, you didn't say it was concentrated in the wealthier side of the city in your original post and you haven't edited the OP to say that even as of writing this.

I can't help but notice you haven't answered my questions:
Where is this happening
Statements from the power company re: what their intent is and why

Is there some reason you're being intentionally vague?
 
In the wintertime, the biggest electricity demand is heat. When temps get down to 30-40F, there's little differential between that and an interior temperature of 63-68 degrees. It's easier to heat a place with a heat differential that small. But when it gets colder, it takes longer to heat to that temperature range.

Many homes are still heat-inefficient; I see many roofs here clear of snow because of heat loss, be they roofs of stick-homes or mobiles...mostly mobiles. Inefficient insulation, cracks & gaps in doors & windows, floors with low to no insulation all lead to higher power usage, especially in sub-freezing temperatures. The place I was in for 3 months? 60YO single-wide, thin walls, obviously aged insulation, single-pane windows, aluminum doors, soggy ceiling insulation due to a roof perforated in many areas (also leaking)...and zero flooring insulation. Add holes in the skirting...there ya go. The current place I'm at: also a mobile, thermostat set to 62. The furnace ran all night because of the temperature differential between 5 degrees outside and 62 inside. At freezing or above, the furnace cycles normally...it just got too cold outside and the heat was bleeding out.

There's a lot of substandard housing here, not sure about your locality. Oh...and there are many people out there who have their interiors cranked to 70 and above out there, too. 61 plus warmer clothing works here at my place.

Are you in a metropolitan area? That can strain a grid pretty hard. I'm rural, the only dangers here are lines snapping from ice weight or transformers blowing...or when a numbskull in a 4x4 with no sense of safety kayoes a pole. :unsure:
 
I thought that rolling blackouts was a California thing.

I'm a SoCal nut.
 
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TheBob said:
I thought that rolling blackouts was a California thing.
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In the summer of 2001 they were! California struck a deal with Washington state's Bonneville Power Administration that summer for electricity, and Bonneville pleaded to us Washingtonians to tighten our belts a bit to help. We did...and the latter-summer Cali blackouts were averted.

The issue then was that Washingtonians saved so much, Bonneville couldn't sell the surplus fast enough and it got 'wasted'. Bonneville later said they'd raise our power rates to cope with the 'loss'...not only was there public outrage but the Washington Utilities & Trade Commission told Bonneville "absolutely not!"...that they asked and we gave. They also told Bonneville they'd get it if they pulled anything funny. And so...life went on.
 
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BobbiSueEllen said:
In the summer of 2001 they were! California struck a deal with Washington state's Bonneville Power Administration that summer for electricity, and Bonneville pleaded to us Washingtonians to tighten our belts a bit to help. We did...and the latter-summer Cali blackouts were averted.

The issue then was that Washingtonians saved so much, Bonneville couldn't sell the surplus fast enough and it got 'wasted'. Bonneville later said they'd raise our power rates to cope with the 'loss'...not only was there public outrage but the Washington Utilities & Trade Commission told Bonneville "absolutely not!"...that they asked and we gave. They also told Bonneville they'd get it if they pulled anything funny. And so...life went on.
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Thank goodness there is somebody that will fight for the little guy.
 
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"fun fact"
a brownout is intentionally done to ease stress on the grid
Typically last 1-3 hours
a blackout is caused due to equipment failure, natural disasters, trees on lines etc can last minutes to days or even longer while they do repairs
 
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SparkyDog said:
"fun fact"
a brownout is intentionally done to ease stress on the grid
Typically last 1-3 hours
a blackout is caused due to equipment failure, natural disasters, trees on lines etc can last minutes to days or even longer while they do repairs
Click to expand...
Agreed. The newsmedia, ever the championship abuser of words & terms, called them "rolling blackouts" back in the summer before 9/11. We know now! 🥳
 
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