During weather-related power outages, do you think utility companies intentionally divert service from some areas that weren't directly affected by the storms in order to restore service sooner to more populated areas that were?
It's a matter of where you power comes from. Where we live the power comes from W Va. It's almost never affected by storms. Just a little farther east power comes from the east coast, and goes out all the time.
Exactly correct. The issue is the delivery route. That can be modified real-time, almost instantaneously to meet the needs of a power company (or customers). But, to not overload circuits, they may have to cut some off.
The distribution systems are elaborate, and a storm in a nearby area can knock out your power. And utility companies definitely focus their dispatched repair crews on fixes that will restore power to more populated areas before others...
My folks' house in upstate New York was without power for 5 days during a cold snap (single digit temps) in December 2011 (maybe 2010). The power company told them directly that their house was the only house out on their street, so dispatching a
We had an outage for a few hours this morning. There were widespread outages, but no severe weather in our area, and no apparent damage. The larger town a few miles away had power restored about the time ours failed. It has happened before.
I had it explained that some newer lines have some kind of technology that will automatically reroute power through different circuits if an outage is detected. Older lines or rural lines don't have that ability. I do think rural residents get low
priority though when it comes to repairs, which sucked when I lived in two different houses at the end of a rural line. We went without power for a week more than once in both houses.
Show of Hands
Comments: Add Comment