More losses from the power outages
Jun. 7th, 2008 11:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
recalcitranttoyIt's so sad to watch some of the local fish keepers who have put years into the perfect marine aquarium and brilliant displays of corals and critters, lose it all because of power outages. Most of these guys have back up systems to keep at least air flow going, but not everyone can afford a generator that powers the lights the corals need to live, the protein skimmers to keep waste from building, the heaters to keep the temperature constant, kalk stirrers, etc. to keep things healthy. When you are looking at multi day outages, which some of these people went through, the losses begin to mount. But they're not the only ones who suffered.
A cashier at the local Safeway mentioned in passing that they lost 20,000.00 in milk, and 15,000.00 in ice cream alone. I have no idea what they might have lost in other meats and refrigerated products. If you multiply that by all the shops, and all the private homes that have to throw out refrigerators full of food, you have to ask how Dominion Virginia Power can possibly say that burying the lines wouldn't be cost effective.
I either don't understand something critical here, or somebody isn't quite telling the truth. I've lived in many places around the world, and by far, I've had the most issues with power right here in Northern Virginia. When I first moved here 20+ years ago now, I complained to then Virginia Power about the number of outages we were dealing with, and they said that burying the lines wouldn't make any difference. That's rather difficult for me to believe given that it seems that just about every time we have a storm of any kind, our power at least fluctuates to the point where clocks reset, surge protectors trip, etc. Most of the issues in our area from what I could see were due to downed trees taking the lines with them. How could burying the lines NOT help?
Perhaps if electric companies were held responsible for the losses they cause, we'd see buried lines and better service....
A cashier at the local Safeway mentioned in passing that they lost 20,000.00 in milk, and 15,000.00 in ice cream alone. I have no idea what they might have lost in other meats and refrigerated products. If you multiply that by all the shops, and all the private homes that have to throw out refrigerators full of food, you have to ask how Dominion Virginia Power can possibly say that burying the lines wouldn't be cost effective.
I either don't understand something critical here, or somebody isn't quite telling the truth. I've lived in many places around the world, and by far, I've had the most issues with power right here in Northern Virginia. When I first moved here 20+ years ago now, I complained to then Virginia Power about the number of outages we were dealing with, and they said that burying the lines wouldn't make any difference. That's rather difficult for me to believe given that it seems that just about every time we have a storm of any kind, our power at least fluctuates to the point where clocks reset, surge protectors trip, etc. Most of the issues in our area from what I could see were due to downed trees taking the lines with them. How could burying the lines NOT help?
Perhaps if electric companies were held responsible for the losses they cause, we'd see buried lines and better service....
