better get your emergency cache ready...

[MORTARDUDE]

I have watched eight channels for 2 hours about this blackout ,and haven't heard a damned thing about what really happened. No pictures of the "supposed" fire...We are being set-up for something. This is a dress rehearsal. Better get your emergency supplies ready. I got a real bad feeling about this. The computer worm is supposed to hit big-time on Saturday.

Larry

[MORTARDUDE]

I knew they were lying..there was no lightning...

http://www.weathermatrix.net/2003/08...0308141800.gif

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/data/obhistory/KIAG.html

[Seascamp]

The supposed fire was actually one of Con Ed?s base load plants opening up the steam chest safety valve and dousing the boilers. There is a lot of noise, smoke and steam when an emergency shut down like that occurs. But the alternative is to let the turbine over speed and if that happens the only plan left is to run cause it?s going to blow, big time.
When a grid is in peak load with little reserve capacity, if one major player gets in trouble the grid will usually fold down like a stack of dominoes. My guess is that something major happened in the Niagara Mohawk area at the exact wrong time and smack, down the grid went. But we?ll see what comes out as to root cause. Probably there will be multiple causes, as a calamity of this scope will find all the chinks in the armor on the way to collapse.

In my opinion one issue is it only takes a phone call to add to a grid load but years to add to grid capacity. And with politics being as it is in some areas, the added grid capacity may never happen so grids running by their skin of their teeth is probably a lot more common than we know about.

Scamp

[Arrow]

Thank you. Could you explain to us how the power grids are set up across the country? I have heard that they are few and all interconnected?

[MORTARDUDE]

So far there have been a last 9 bogus explanations of why this happened. I still say this was a dress rehearsal for something bigger....I hope I am wrong.

Larry

[Arrow]

I understand your questions. My girls and I were together last night and we all laughed when at first they said it was lightening and then the national weather service said there was no lightening in the area.Hello? Which is it folks? Well brother no matter what happens this girlwill have todepend on prayer and candles I live in a one bedroom apartment in an apartment complex and they are real fussy about generators setting on their manicured lawn. :re:

[Seascamp]

Sis,
There are three. One covers the eastern US and links into eastern Canada. One covers the western US and links into western Canada. The third is the Texas grid and they don?t usually hook onto anyone. Of lately, there are connects being made into northern Mexico but that?s an iffy deal at best. In my opinion our grids are legislated, not designed and so by happy accident, happenstance, legislation, serendipity, etc. they are kind of like Topsey in that they just done growed. I don?t think the quantity of grid equipment is the issue so much as long line distribution capability. If the system is designed for a specific service area and then starts distribution to far distant areas, that is both inefficient and capacity limited unless the distribution system is changed to match the transmission line parameters. But then from day one of light bulb number one, there was no intent to connect everyone up and do a give and take share deal except within specific service areas, kind of like what PSO does in your area. But there is a new ball game now and all kinds of ?adapter plugs? and power conversion facilities coming together to get different service areas in the grid. It?s very clumsy and inefficient at best and failure prone at worst. So that?s what we got at this time. But some service areas have ultra modern transmission lines and grid set ups but not all, and that is always the rub.

Funny saga. While working in the UK I was mostly working with the then called the CEGB (Central Electric Generating Board) and the thing that fascinated me the most was watching the grid load at 4:00 PM teatime. A Brit teapot is 220 VAC, 50 hz powered and boils water in an instant, I mean right now, no watched pots over there. So anyway, the whole place brews up and kabam, the grid hunkers and grunts but the Board expected teatime and was ready every time. Damn, I think there would have been a national crisis of huge proportions if teatime didn?t come down properly. In the US, various service areas will run Base Load plants 24/7 and Peakers in the early morning and at dinnertime. A similar thing, but watching the grid get slam dunked at teatime was a whole different order of magnitude and maybe a funny macro view of a culture.

Scamp

P.S.
If I?m not mistaken I believe it was the Canadians that were putting forth the lightning scenario, not a US authority. It will be a bit before the root cause or causes get identified so I would agree that anything we hear is likely to be some sea story, finger pointing, fanciful thinking and/or or some opportunistic politico running his noise making apparatus. I wouldn?t be surprised to hear the Trekies claim it was some mother ship beaming up energy.

[Boats]

Regardless of the fault in the long run the consumer's are going to have some pretty big electric bills after the upgrades are put into place.

[Arrow]

Thanks Scamp your post put a lot of light on the subject.

And your right the lightening scenario came out of Canada which was the cause ofsome amusement because as you know in these parts we "knows" lightening when we "sees" it partner.

I loved the teapot story

The media has now come into agreement with you they are finally reporting that no one knows what happened.

[kmetz]

But there is suppose to be a computer program that sees this kind of failure coming and shuts down one segment of the grid so the whole grid doesn't go down. Now I wonder, was it a hacker that did this? And do terrorists have to physically be in the US to create havoc? We need back-up systems big time!

All I could think of yesterday when I was watching the TV reports out of NYC and saw all of those people walking was--where the heck are they all going???