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Goodnight Irene
40hz:
@J-Mac - I'm gonna have to check. I'd suspect you are correct (and I'm wrong) since you've been "in the business." I'm probably guilty of oversimplifying and mixing up two (or more) completely different but related utility regulation issues. Because now that you mention it, I do seem to recall something about how the profitability was fixed but there were some major disputes as to how that profit was being calculated. Which is what steeladept was saying in his comment about it being all about costs rather than earnings.
:)
xtabber:
The catastrophic damage from Irene did not come from wind downing power lines but from the huge amount of water dumped on already saturated ground in a very short time. I live in Western MA, probably about 125 miles north of 40HZ, and the eye passed within miles of my house. It had already been downgraded to tropical storm status and there was no wind damage in our neighborhood -- we had far more from a micro-burst during a frontal storm a few weeks ago. But we did get about 6 inches of rain in less than 20 hours. Some of the nearby hill towns got as much as 9 inches.
Vermont and the Hudson Valley and Adirondacks in New York suffered more from the rain than we did, as is typical of areas west of the path of a large hurricane. Most of the state of Vermont is currently a disaster area, with many communities completely cut off by flooding. Search Google or YouTube for "Queechee Covered Bridge" or "Bartonville Covered Bridge" to see some stunning videos. Upstate New York is also suffering major flooding, with many roadways (including parts of I-87 and I-90) still closed.
Buried electric lines don't help when you have mostly flood damage, and may actually have contributed to the problems with Metro-North commuter rail lines and Amtrack in the areas surrounding New York City.
40hz:
Buried electric lines don't help when you have mostly flood damage, and may actually have contributed to the problems with Metro-North commuter rail lines and Amtrack in the areas surrounding New York City.
-xtabber (August 30, 2011, 10:04 AM)
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Goodnight Irene
In CT (New Haven Line) it was mostly downed trees and power lines that were the main problem for MetroNorth.
The NH Line commuter trains use an overhead catenary wire/pantograph combo (like a trolley - see above) rather than the more common third-rail system for train power. (And the NH rail power mains are all above ground AKAIK.)
Local flooding and the storm debris in and around the stations didn't help either.
As of 8/30/2011 11:30am we still have about a half-million customers (45% of the state) without power.
But we're still better of than the folks up in VT from the news we've been hearing. The VT flooding situation is beyond anything we've seen down here. Best of luck to all those up in green mountain country.
:(
Stoic Joker:
@40hz - Man I've done the why don't they put this stuff below ground rant myself a few times ... But in seems that in a contest between Technology and Mother Nature ... Mom wins every time.
40hz:
@40hz - Man I've done the why don't they put this stuff below ground rant myself a few times ... But in seems that in a contest between Technology and Mother Nature ... Mom wins every time.
-Stoic Joker (August 30, 2011, 11:33 AM)
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No argument from me on that point. You're 100% right. ;D
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