• @[email protected]
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      591 year ago

      We’ve only had a few truly catastrophic wildfires and only 23,000 homes burned down since 2017, let’s wait until those numbers come up before we start wasting money on things like “replacing 100 year old infrastructure that was built to last 70.” If we replaced every little thing, how would we pay the executives and shareholders?

  • @[email protected]
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    451 year ago

    Record profits for shareholders could have been applied elsewhere, like investing in ourselves and what keeps the gears of society turning.

    • andrew
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      21 year ago

      Don’t worry, they will repopulate the earth with their billionaire genius genes once we all die and they return on their rockets and emerge from their sweet underground bunkers.

  • @[email protected]
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    351 year ago

    Of course it is.

    We have more energy consuming stuff than ever. But do you ever see NEW substations being built? NEW long range power lines? I don’t.

    Around here, the utility has a deal- they will sell you a top of the line $400 color touchscreen WiFi thermostat that talks to Alexa and displays the weather report and does a bunch of other shit, for $10 (not a typo). In exchange, you let them remotely shut off your AC if the grid gets overloaded.

    Why do they do this? Because a few truckloads of thermostats (with a bulk discount) are a fuckton cheaper than actually upgrading the grid.

    And so we hear about grid overload days and possible brownouts and incentives to shut stuff off as if this is the way it’s supposed to be. But the reality is these problems only exist because utilities don’t keep ahead of necessary upgrades. After all, why spend the money when there’s shareholders to answer to?

    • @[email protected]
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      91 year ago

      This is not a remotely accurate assessment of demand side management programs. Such programs are overwhelmingly required of IOUs by states since they tend to be cheaper than infrastructure upgrades for everyone. Utilities on the other hand tend to prefer infrastructure upgrades because they get a guaranteed rate of return typically. You have this completely backwards.

      • @[email protected]
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        11 year ago

        Interesting. Do you have any sources on this or more reading material behind it? I have yet to really see any things suggesting utilities are asking to do CapEx on infrastructure improvements but are being told no.

        • @[email protected]
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          11 year ago

          I think I gave off the wrong impression that these are more linked than they are, sorry. Many states require cost effective EE because it’s generally good policy (benefits outweigh costs), and some of those benefits include not having to build new capacity. PUCs generally also support infrastructure investments, and with guaranteed rates of return on most T&D for example, it’s a no brainer. So states are often doing both, and there are varying options about the merits of each. To your question though, one notable recent example is the gas pipeline that Gov Cuomo vetoed, which led to more gas efficiency programs in downstate NY.

          I’m also embarrassed to report I can’t think of a good source for you since I’m in the industry, other than primary sources like utility financial statements, rate cases, state regulations, etc. Hope this was helpful - it’s a fascinating industry.

  • @21Cabbage
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    341 year ago

    I’m at this point pretty convinced that the US is like your friend in high school that never changed the oil in his car because it still started and ran, until of course it didn’t.

  • guyrocket
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    321 year ago

    With rooftop solar I get to be the asshole that doesn’t care about the grid.

    And you too can be an asshole!

    • @[email protected]
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      261 year ago

      The orientation of my house sucks and our neighborhood has many old growth trees. I wish I could be that asshole, but after running the numbers I don’t even break even over the expected lifespan of the panels. :(

        • ElPussyKangaroo
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          111 year ago

          If that ain’t enough, get a nuclear plant installed in your backyard 😤💯

        • @[email protected]
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          51 year ago

          Tiny lot + aforementioned old growth trees means that’s also not viable. :( My “best” option (which I have) is a nat gas backup generator for when the grid goes down. It’s expensive, and very much NOT a clean energy source, but it’s what I have to work with. I work 100% from home and need full-time power.

    • @[email protected]
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      101 year ago

      With (only) rooftop solar you’re still dependent at night, and during the day when it’s cloudy.

    • @[email protected]
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      1 year ago

      I would love to get it, but I am getting hounded two or three times a weekend by door-to-door solar salespeople.

      It’s always the same shit routine they pull about saying they are just passing the word about some change the power company just did or something. They supposedly just want to give a “consultation” about what that means and they are not trying to sell me anything.

      If their blatant trespassing didn’t already piss me off, their bullshit faux consultation pitch absolutely does.

      The end result? I really don’t want anything to do with any solar company, at all. It’s a shame, TBH. I really don’t want to start shopping for solar in full defense mode like I am about to buy a used car. The sales people in that industry have absolutely fucked it for me.

      That reminds me. I have a three part Ring recording of one of those people going into mental meltdown saying that offering me a quote and consultation was not solicitation. It’s hysterical.

    • @[email protected]
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      41 year ago

      If the US got similar problems as Norway, you should still care as there is a lot of energy wasted on transferring it from A to B.

      • guyrocket
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        31 year ago

        Solar panels? They keep getting cheaper. And great federal rebate on them now in the US. I think it’s 30%?

        • Altima NEO
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          31 year ago

          Yeah, but I mean aren’t they the price of a small used car? My bill averages $100 a month, except in winter when it doubles. That’s a looong time for it to pay itself off.

  • @[email protected]
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    271 year ago

    Good thing the grid is run by private corporations that always do timely maintenance. Oh wait…

  • Davel23
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    131 year ago

    The power at my place goes out if it’s a little windy, or if it rains just a little too long. So yeah, no shit.

  • @[email protected]
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    91 year ago

    I vaguely remember a TV movie from like… 2006 where some kind of solar storm /coronal mass ejection thing happens right as some hacker was trying to “HEY EVERYONE THIS SYSTEM IS VULNERABLE AND YOU SHOULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT BEFORE A BAD GUY TAKES CONTROL” type hack of the electrical grid, and the combination of the hack and solar radiation causing most of the US power grid to shut down

    I haven’t seen anything in real life to convince me the power gris isn’t a prince ruperts drop that only works because it’s never been shut down all at once before, and once it does that tail shatters and takes the rest with it.

    In fact, living near a power substation that supplies a couple major things for a nearby city, I’m convinced the only reason there hasn’t been a massive attack against it is because people just assume it’s well protected.

  • @[email protected]
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    41 year ago

    I’ve had 2 multiple day power outages in the Milwaukee area, and 4 or 5 shorter ones over the past few years. It literally never used to happen.

    • @[email protected]
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      31 year ago

      Local outages are a lot different than grid failure. But yeah local power lines are probably needing an update too.

  • @[email protected]
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    11 year ago

    ya think? you know there are countries where blackouts are a rare thing, not a routine occurrence…

    • @[email protected]
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      21 year ago

      34 years old, I’ve been without power a cumulative of maybe 3 days total my entire life. That includes being hit by many hurricanes including Michael which was a CAT5. You might be exaggerating a bit.