Ike Texas Members Update

[Gary C.]

Re: Ike Texas Members Update

Terry et al

We are still cleaning up after Gustov here in Baton Rouge. We thank you for sending utility workers our way. I think the crews in our area did excellent work and are very professional. I think all the workers assume backfeeding from portable generators is present until proven otherwise. I know on my street the lines were grounded on each side of the area they were working on and flagged as such. In addition a worker would go by each house checking for generators. A nice utility worker from Lubbock Texas asked me about my generator and I informed him it was backfeeding a subpanel in my house. I showed him the main panel outside with every breaker turned off. He still removed the meter and did the same to the other homes on the street. When they finished the job he returned and put all the meters back online. It is sort of cowboyish, but backfeeding the house is pretty common around here, unless we are fortunate enough to have a system like Johns.

Regards

Gary

[Stuart F.]

Re: Ike Texas Members Update

John;

But you are in the wise minority. If you lived here in Florida just before a pending storm, you'd see hundreds of folks walking in and out of the local "Home Depot" or "Lowes" with brand new low Wattage Gen sets, who have neither the practical common sense or ability to read and understand instructions (be them in English or Spanish), going home to plug that sucker in the wall, pour in some gas and hit the starter button just so they can run their refrigerator and keep their Beer cold! You know some of them are going to try and kill themselves or somebody with those things.

Those Whole House Generac units are sweet, and I may yet figure out a practical way to own and operate one.

Stu Fox

[John H.]

Re: Ike Texas Members Update

Those Whole House Generac units are sweet, and I may yet figure out a practical way to own and operate one.

Stu Fox

Stu -

Maybe Mike Ward can get you a deal on a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT-6A gas turbine - then you can tap into that jet fuel line .

[Stuart F.]

Re: Ike Texas Members Update

John;

Sounds like a good plan, and now that I'm no longer loyalty bound to GM present/former divisions, guess I don't have to use an Allison Turbine.

Stu

Oh say, Mr. Ward! Ya got a minute?

[Dick W.]

Re: Ike Texas Members Update

Several years ago there was a major power outage in a neighboring county, with the exception on one small rural area. When the utility got there they found a poultry farmer had "jury rigged" his generator and was back feeding the utility lines. Needless to say, his power meter left with the workers, and they did not "nicely" return it when they completed their repairs. He had to pay for an electrical inspection, pay a reconnect fee to the utility, and give a lot of appologies.

[Terry M.]

Re: Ike Texas Members Update

Terry et al

We are still cleaning up after Gustov here in Baton Rouge. We thank you for sending utility workers our way. I think the crews in our area did excellent work and are very professional. I think all the workers assume backfeeding from portable generators is present until proven otherwise. I know on my street the lines were grounded on each side of the area they were working on and flagged as such. In addition a worker would go by each house checking for generators. A nice utility worker from Lubbock Texas asked me about my generator and I informed him it was backfeeding a subpanel in my house. I showed him the main panel outside with every breaker turned off. He still removed the meter and did the same to the other homes on the street. When they finished the job he returned and put all the meters back online. It is sort of cowboyish, but backfeeding the house is pretty common around here, unless we are fortunate enough to have a system like Johns.

Regards

Gary

Gary they did exactly what they are supposed to do. They grounded on both sides of their work and removed ALL potential sources of back-feed. Those kinds of details are basic, but also matters of life and death. My guys do that sort of thing during our day-to-day operations here when there is no storm damage. Kudos to them.

I would bet they removed the high voltage fuses from the high side of the transformers and from the source(s) of high voltage as well. They will usually take the fuses with them so that no one else can close them in.

When my guys get back, I'll have some conversations with them about where they were and what they did, but I don't expect them back for at least another couple of weeks.

[Art A.]

Re: Ike Texas Members Update

Terry help me out here....................I thought you had retired? It sounds like you may have gone back to w*rk.

[John D.]

Re: Ike Texas Members Update

Steve, Also check out Detroil Diesel. My brother has a whole house DD generator that runs on a 5.3 Chevy with a carburetor that is fed with a 1-1/2 gas line. Not cheap though. His generator looks like a small locomotive. He loves it when the juice goes out which is often around here.

[Terry M.]

Re: Ike Texas Members Update

Well Art, it is kind of complicated.
Yes, I am retired
Yes, I am working as a contractor. I have been doing contract work for my old employer for four years. I worked on short-term projects -- from 2 months to 16 months. This project, if it gets funded every year, could last 3 to 5 years.

The details are kind of interesting, but not at all Corvette related -- except these kinds of activities helped fund the Z06.

If you want to see what we are up to:

http://www.utilx.com/power/cablecure.aspx

I dispatch the crews that are doing what you see on that page.

[Art A.]

Re: Ike Texas Members Update

Cool! In my line of work, which is Corvette related, we call that double dipping!
I've always wondered why underground wiring is not mandatory in places that get blown away on a regular basis.

Well Art, it is kind of complicated.
Yes, I am retired
Yes, I am working as a contractor. I have been doing contract work for my old employer for four years. I worked on short-term projects -- from 2 months to 16 months. This project, if it gets funded every year, could last 3 to 5 years.

The details are kind of interesting, but not at all Corvette related -- except these kinds of activities helped fund the Z06.

If you want to see what we are up to:

http://www.utilx.com/power/cablecure.aspx

I dispatch the crews that are doing what you see on that page.

[Terry M.]

Re: Ike Texas Members Update

Underground facilities are lower maintenance than above ground, but they are more expensive to install and are not entirely without maintenance needs. Then there are people who will dig into them, and the transformers are generally above ground and subject to weather related damage. Those transformers, while normally weather resistant, are not designed for extended submersion.

Additionally people no more like green boxes in their back yards than poles and wires. You wouldn't believe how some people try to disguise those transformers -- including burying them sometimes in earth and sometimes with snow. Finding them can sometimes be a challenge.

I think in any line of work it is called double dipping, but I do wind up paying for my own Social Security and probably yours too. I like to say that while the job has its rewards it, like anything else, has its down sides.

I do wish those in the Gulf states and all the way up to Ohio a speedy recovery. We in the utility industry are doing our best for you.

[Stuart F.]

Re: Ike Texas Members Update

Terry;

In all the newer developments around Orlando we have buried infrastructure and we're all pretty used to those big ugly green boxes in front yards of about every 3rd or 4th house, along with cable boxes, and phone service boxes of every size and shape sticking up from the ground. The little ones get knocked around pretty good by the lawn service riding mowers, but not those big green ones. People treat them with a lot of respect. Heck, if you see someone sitting on one you think they are a fool!

In the aftermath of our storms in 2004, we were out of power for about a day each time and were told it was that we were shut down and not that we had any problem with our equipment. We have a very high water table here so I'm sure they have all the underground equipment well protected. So, that leaves the old above ground infrastructure as the potential problem that will still affect us all until it is replaced.

Stu fox

[Steven B.]

Re: Ike Texas Members Update

Steve, Also check out Detroil Diesel. My brother has a whole house DD generator that runs on a 5.3 Chevy with a carburetor that is fed with a 1-1/2 gas line. Not cheap though. His generator looks like a small locomotive. He loves it when the juice goes out which is often around here.

That sounds like a neat setup! I may even have some parts for the Chevy! We are served by AEP/SWEPCO and they do an excellent job of maintaining service. We hardly ever are without electricity, but a generator is a good idea, especially with electric heat, AC, refrigerators and freezers.

I just got word of a friend in Longview, Texas who got his electricity back up yesterday, and of a friend's daughter in Houston who made it through OK.

[John H.]

Re: Ike Texas Members Update

Following up on my earlier comment about our "Mickey-Mouse" electric utility (Detroit Edison, changed by the MBA's to "DTE Energy"), we had a six-hour power outage Wednesday evening. Beautiful 75-degree day, not a cloud in the sky, no storm, no rain, no wind, no nothing. Power went out at 5:30 PM, didn't come back on 'til 11:00 PM; Mr. Generac did his thing, and all we had to do was reset the digital clocks again .

I sent my usual letter to the Chairman of the Board of DTE Energy asking for the reason for the failure on a beautiful day and why it took six hours to repair it, and I'm sure it will be ignored, just like all my other letters that follow every power failure. Amateurs.