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Canon Image Challenge | all galleries >> CIC 255: The Hand of Man >> Eligible > 18 When your Power Company Hands You a Power Cut..
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07-Apr-2024 Alastair Norcross

18 When your Power Company Hands You a Power Cut..

Boulder

Make your dinner on an outdoor propane stove that you bought on Amazon, and drink plenty of wine. We had high winds in the Boulder area on Saturday and Sunday, so our power company decided to cut off power preemptively for 150,000 customers. The same power company was found partly liable for the terrible wildfire we had a couple of years ago, that destroyed thousands of homes (downed power lines were one of the causes), so they are clearly being extra cautious, or extra vindictive, this time around. They could, of course, bury the power lines (which some nearby localities have done), but they choose instead to cut off power, with very little warning, to thousands of customers, for up to two days (or more). We were without power for 30 hours, and a couple of our friends still don't have it back, nearly two days after it went out (around 3pm Saturday).


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Guest 16-Apr-2024 01:21
Burying power lines is expensive, and the cost of maintenance is significantly higher.
Canon Image Challenge12-Apr-2024 15:50
Thanks for the suggestions Paul. I do have a 20lb propane cylinder, for an outdoor fire pit.
Alastair
Canon Image Challenge10-Apr-2024 23:49
If you have the larger 20 lb propane cylinder typically used on a gas’s grill you can buy an adapter cable to eliminate the 1lb containers. You can also get an adapter to refill the 1 lb containers from a 20 lb tank. It’s safe and legal to do, one just can’t transport the “refilled containers”. I take the 5th when I say I might or might not have transported them after refilling. Paul
Canon Image Challenge09-Apr-2024 13:07
Hi Paul, yes the stove was brand new. I got it same day delivery on Amazon. I did have to go to our local hardware store (luckily in a part of town that still had power) for the propane. They had completely sold out of butane, and were down to their last four propane cylinders! I think killing the power was a good move, but it could have been handled better. It wasn't clear that the outages needed to be so widespread, and so prolonged. Our power went out because of actual downed power lines about a month ago, but it was only out for twelve hours then, and they repaired the lines quickly and efficiently, suggesting that they have the capability to do that.
Alastair
Canon Image Challenge09-Apr-2024 12:51
Cooking just like when you’re camping! The camp stove looks pretty new, did you have it already or did you run up to REI and buy one when the power company shut down the power?

Personally I don’t fault them for preemptively killing the lines for obvious reasons but certainly a press release of the possibility would have been nice since they knew in advance they might need to take this action. Paul
Canon Image Challenge09-Apr-2024 09:52
You wife really is a wonderful model, and an excellent woman! Nonetheless, I'd like to pivot and direct you to a report on the Maui Fire I received today, (power lines & termites involved):

https://www.civilbeat.org/2024/04/the-most-detailed-account-so-far-of-the-lahaina-fire-points-to-one-termite-damaged-utility-pole/

Traveller


Canon Image Challenge08-Apr-2024 21:01
No, there were no downed power lines near our friend's house. He got power back about an hour after I posted this picture. There are still some houses without power now, 48 hours after the lines were 'deenergized' (the language used in the email sent by the power company about five minutes before they actual cut off power). They said they had to check all the lines carefully, before restoring the power. I think they were just being overly cautious, because they had been hit by a multi-million dollar fine for their role in the previous fire, which was the most destructive fire in recorded Colorado history (not the most widespread, but it affected a highly populated area). The sooner they bury the power lines, the better. These high winds are just going to become more and more frequent, with the accelerating pace of climate change.
Alastair
Canon Image Challenge08-Apr-2024 18:33
Yikes - do you think the fact that your friend's current outage is due to actual downed lines? If so, perhaps the power co. made the right decision.

Jim