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Liberals think money grows on trees, trillions of dollars to upgrade... I am sure Liberals wouldn't mind giving that money to Florida... oh, if you want to bury power lines at your home, you can PAY to do that... what do you mean you don't want to... how ironic... and please don't blame the Russians...
Florida is the poster child for American-style crony-capitalism. And like contemporary America, Florida has no economy other than real estate speculation, illegal drugs, sprawl & highway building, and healthcare for the ever-growing number of old people.
When you put it that way, Florida really does seem like everything wrong with America in one package
6.5 million people without power and high 80s and low 90 degree temperatures , it could be weeks to get power back on for some people.
Its crazy that places like florida and houston just grow and grow and grow, in florida alot of the growth right on the ocean and in houston its some development is in flood plains. Both places that are just prone to hurricanes and flooding. Florida actually dodged a bullet, next time it may not be so lucky, something like an andrew taking a direct hit on miami would be astronomical in terms of damage.
The general consensus is that most will have power by September 22nd. My brother lives in a very rural area, and he might be out a bit longer. When Matthew blew threw last year, he was among the last to get his power back. He has a generator, but he's having to ration the gas to run it. It's going to be a long week!
You don't know what your talking about and as
One of the things we have done since Wilma is strengthen our infrastructure,” said FPL Regional Manager Juliet Roulhac. “Most of you have seen of these very tall concrete poles going up in your neighborhoods. That has been a significant part of hardening and supporting our infrastructure. They will withstand much higher wind strength. That will allow us, again, to restore more quickly.
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Uh, I totally know that they have upgraded a tiny portion of the Grid since Wilma.
Your point? Proof is in the pudding. Many will be out for weeks and short wood poles along the backyard fences (not even an alleyway) are the norm in many neighborhoods. A bucket truck can't even access these - and drops come off of them to the houses (rear). Large trees loom above it all.
That's just the start of it.
Even the concrete towers can only handle 145 - so this thing could have broken many of those:
"Officials say concrete poles that line the coast are able to withstand up to 145 mph winds. Irma's winds have constantly flustered. Anything over 145 mph will break the concrete."
"The average U.S. electrical utility customer experiences 214 minutes of power outage each year — compared to 70 in Great Britain and just six in Japan. "The U.S.," says their article, "ranks toward the bottom among developed nations in terms of reliability of its electricity service."
I guess the question becomes whether we are a first world country?
Underground utilities is not the panacea people think. Under normal weather they are more reliable. They are prone to break down in flooding conditions and overall do not last as long as overhead lines. They also take longer to fix. Another issue is when they fix them they are liable to cut other utility lines like cable of phone. Moreover, unless most all of the grid is underground than it doesn't help much.
The most power outages I ever had was in a neighborhood with underground lines.
Everything you said is correct.
Underground electric requires manholes, used to maintain them. They fill with rain water and need to be pumped out and cleaned up before repairs. They also require special equipment and more frequent maintenance. If flooded they will be the last to be restored. There are special hazards requiring specific training and certification to enter a manhole where dangerous gasses collect and occasionally kill workers who make a mistake.
Fl. is not the idea climate for underground electric. For FPL the largest provider of electric in Fl. the people who repair and maintain fall under what is called the distribution branch of the company. It doesn't make a profit on that branch of the company. It cost them money instead. They have every reason to control their loss and improving the system through their hardening program.
Uh, I totally know that they have upgraded a tiny portion of the Grid since Wilma.
FPL did invest approximately half a billion dollars to continue to improve the overall resiliency of the electric system for customers. The plan builds on the company's industry-leading storm hardening initiative by incorporating additional lessons learned from Superstorm Sandy, such as those related to flooding, as well as from Florida storm activity in 2012
We all paid for it in our electric bill here in Fl.
Quote:
Your point? Proof is in the pudding. Many will be out for weeks and short wood poles along the backyard fences (not even an alleyway) are the norm in many neighborhoods. A bucket truck can't even access these - and drops come off of them to the houses (rear). Large trees loom above it all.
The electric company can't dictate what a home owner plants in their yard. Insurance companies often do and can cancel coverage unless trees causing a potential hazard are cut down or trimmed. I know one lady that had to pay $ 10,000 out of pocket for tree removal to keep her insurance from being canceled. All through the year there are tree crews cutting limbs around power lines. Its a common site causing lane closures on the roadways.
Quote:
That's just the start of it.
Even the concrete towers can only handle 145 - so this thing could have broken many of those:
"Officials say concrete poles that line the coast are able to withstand up to 145 mph winds. Irma's winds have constantly flustered. Anything over 145 mph will break the concrete."
Could have but didn't in this storm, Irma. They did the job. They paid for themselves in this storm alone.
It allows the repair crews to get power restored faster than wouldn't have been the case without them. Most of the concrete poles support the larger distribution lines that feed the wooden poles in residential areas. In addition, under normal weather conditions, hardening a power line reduces the frequency of daily outages by up to 40 percent.
Quote:
"The average U.S. electrical utility customer experiences 214 minutes of power outage each year — compared to 70 in Great Britain and just six in Japan. "The U.S.," says their article, "ranks toward the bottom among developed nations in terms of reliability of its electricity service."
I guess the question becomes whether we are a first world country?
How many hurricanes does Great Britain have ? Tornados ? Wildfires ? They are island countries. Not a major part of a continent. WTH
I don't like FPL ( for other reasons ) and hate having to defend them but what they have been doing is improving the system. No system is going to be without failures.
I have a band new pole and transformer installed this summer and didn't lose power during this storm. If money were no object I'm sure they could do more and do it faster.
6.5 million people without power and high 80s and low 90 degree temperatures , it could be weeks to get power back on for some people.
Its crazy that places like florida and houston just grow and grow and grow, in florida alot of the growth right on the ocean and in houston its some development is in flood plains. Both places that are just prone to hurricanes and flooding. Florida actually dodged a bullet, next time it may not be so lucky, something like an andrew taking a direct hit on miami would be astronomical in terms of damage.
Yeah, it's amazing that Los Angeles just grows and grows, with the earthquakes and wildfires. And don't even get me started on the Eastern Seaboard with their hurricanes. Think of all the people there.
By the way, most people in Houston kept their power during Harvey. That's because Reliant Energy made a lot of upgrades after Hurricane Ike.
open it up, get the guv out.
Why is an electric grid any different than tv's, computers, fast food burgers etc.? Competition brings prices down and advancements.
Whats in place now is a sole electricity provider with a gov enforced monopoly on service.
And they're all going to share transmission lines, right? Please.
Uh, I totally know that they have upgraded a tiny portion of the Grid since Wilma.
Your point? Proof is in the pudding. Many will be out for weeks and short wood poles along the backyard fences (not even an alleyway) are the norm in many neighborhoods. A bucket truck can't even access these - and drops come off of them to the houses (rear). Large trees loom above it all.
That's just the start of it.
Even the concrete towers can only handle 145 - so this thing could have broken many of those:
"Officials say concrete poles that line the coast are able to withstand up to 145 mph winds. Irma's winds have constantly flustered. Anything over 145 mph will break the concrete."
"The average U.S. electrical utility customer experiences 214 minutes of power outage each year — compared to 70 in Great Britain and just six in Japan. "The U.S.," says their article, "ranks toward the bottom among developed nations in terms of reliability of its electricity service."
I guess the question becomes whether we are a first world country?
give it up already, there is absolutely no comparison between the grids of Japan and England to the US. Now compare the US grid to the complete EU grid maybe. I will concede that the grid in the US is a fragile thing indeed and the continued push to install unreliable generation assets will make it more unreliable but that's another discussion.
Play with these a bit so you some understanding of the system before commenting.
And they're all going to share transmission lines, right? Please.
FPL is not the only utility in Florida....And yes Utility company's do share transmission lines all the time
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