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We used to have one hour of electricity supply followed by one hour of blackout during the day in Summer. I'm talking about 10 years back in the Indian subconti

We used to have one hour of electricity supply followed by one hour of blackout during the day in Summer. I'm talking about 10 years back in the Indian subcontinent- halfway around the world from US where I live now. Sometimes 1 hour blackout would turn into two. A large part of the time we had supply was spent pumping and storing water. Come to think of it, we made sure that every drop of that water and every minute of that electricity supply was used efficiently. I am sometimes reminded of this memory these days when I let my standard-size SUV idle with the AC running while waiting for a latte.

cm2187 5y ago
Or when you talk to someone in California
- mint2 5y ago
  It wasn’t California that had its utility execs patting themselves on the back during testimony that they were so fast in getting the power back on to the 95% of customers at the 7 day mark as if a whole week without power is good and the fact that means 1 in 20 ppl took more than a week. Oh and if you’re thinking I’m talking about Texas, I’m not. My point is why do people think these issues are just California? Global warming and extreme weather is causing power issues in your backyard too. Why do people love bashing california over issues in their own back yard?
- esalman 5y ago
  Is it that bad in California? The other reply mentioned TX, I was actually in the heart of the snowstorm last winter. We were saved from days of outage only because we were in a hospital block. So I also think it is not just California. For me the best/worst part of the winter storm happened a while later when I went to an IEEE webinar on the incident. We asked the panel whether they should concentrate more on the robustness of the grid and infrastructure given extreme weather events are going to be more common. The BiG oIl ExeC in the panel replied "ask me in 1000 years, the scientists are divided on that one." But not all of the panelists were as heartless.. towards the end one of them mentioned that when designing infrastructure we should keep in mind the weak and the vulnerable- those in the hospitals and such, not just the ones with backup generators and firewood stocks.

cm2187 5y ago

Or when you talk to someone in California

mint2 5y ago
It wasn’t California that had its utility execs patting themselves on the back during testimony that they were so fast in getting the power back on to the 95% of customers at the 7 day mark as if a whole week without power is good and the fact that means 1 in 20 ppl took more than a week. Oh and if you’re thinking I’m talking about Texas, I’m not. My point is why do people think these issues are just California? Global warming and extreme weather is causing power issues in your backyard too. Why do people love bashing california over issues in their own back yard?
esalman 5y ago
Is it that bad in California? The other reply mentioned TX, I was actually in the heart of the snowstorm last winter. We were saved from days of outage only because we were in a hospital block. So I also think it is not just California. For me the best/worst part of the winter storm happened a while later when I went to an IEEE webinar on the incident. We asked the panel whether they should concentrate more on the robustness of the grid and infrastructure given extreme weather events are going to be more common. The BiG oIl ExeC in the panel replied "ask me in 1000 years, the scientists are divided on that one." But not all of the panelists were as heartless.. towards the end one of them mentioned that when designing infrastructure we should keep in mind the weak and the vulnerable- those in the hospitals and such, not just the ones with backup generators and firewood stocks.