Electric Grid: grade of "D" (Society of Civil Engineers)

[RosemaryB]

http://www.asce.org/reportcard/2005/page.cfm?id=25

The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the U.S. electric grid a grade of "D" in this report. I don't believe there are major plans to improve it at this point, I'm sure the prospects are worse given the financial crises we are seeing.

Since most of us depend on the "magic of electricity" via this grid to deliver healthful sleep (as opposed to life-threatening breathing interruption), I thought this might motivate people to have a backup plan for outages. These usually include generators and batteries discussed in some detail in various posts on this forum (see below). Since I live in a condo and can't have a generator, I do have 2 backup batteries and am trying a dental device (the TAP III). The dental devices are much more expensive than the generator unless you have good insurance, and they don't work for everyone.

Here are some links to look at if you are just beginning to think about this (compliments of Rested Gal)

LINKS to Battery operation, camping, power outage
viewtopic.php?t=9682

LINKS to surgery, turbinates, Pillar, TAP experiences
viewtopic.php?t=2836

[Slinky]

I believe updating and improving our electrical grid is one of the "public works" and job stimulus programs Obama included in his economic stimulus proposals. Of course, that takes time to implement and get results, i.e. an improved power grid. Lyndon Johnson certainly took care of Texas whilst he was in office and saw to it that Texas has its own power grid independent of the rest of the country.

[RosemaryB]

I believe updating and improving our electrical grid is one of the "public works" and job stimulus programs Obama included in his economic stimulus proposals. Of course, that takes time to implement and get results, i.e. an improved power grid. Lyndon Johnson certainly took care of Texas whilst he was in office and saw to it that Texas has its own power grid independent of the rest of the country.

I have the feeling that the financing won't be there to do a lot of the things we should. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we will all have reliable electricity in our futures.

[jules]

Because of the war in Viet Nam, grade inflation hit the college campuses to keep more young men from being drafted. Grading scales never returned to pre Viet Nam days.

Was this a post Viet Nam grade?

[RosemaryB]

Because of the war in Viet Nam, grade inflation hit the college campuses to keep more young men from being drafted. Grading scales never returned to pre Viet Nam days.

Was this a post Viet Nam grade?

I hope not . But perhaps I need to get a whole roomful of backup batteries just in case .

[john_dozer]

You think we would have gotten a wakeup call with that power outage in the northwest a few years ago. But I suspect little is different.

It was interesting how other things shutdown that you don't immediately expect.

The landlines went first. Then the cell towers which have battery backup went down. You couldn't get gas. Water stopped working. Well there was some residual pressure for a little while, but from what I understand when the waterworks is disturbed like that, the water become non-potable. Drinking water became sold out. I used the non-potable water to fill a bunch of empty water jugs that I later used to be able to flush the toilets. All this in the first 24 hrs.

Having a widespread universal blackout is a different animal than one the size of a neighborhood or small city.

Sorry for going a little OT. But preparing for a severe blackout in general is probably not a bad idea. Keeping the hoover running may become a secondary issue if you're not prepared.