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 PSO can suck a big fat....cigar
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Woke up today around 11:00 or 11:30. Couldn't tell, the alarm clock was off. My wife asked me if I unplugged it. I didn't think so, but who knows what I do while sleeping. As we started to wake up and become more aware of our surroundings we noticed the ceiling fan and the TV were off.
The power went out. First thing that crossed my mind was, oh great, my website is down and it's going to be a pain to get the router working again.
The electrical infrastructure in this town is old. There are too many houses being feed off of a single transformer. The power lines are old and weather beaten, and I don't even know where the closest power station is located.
I remember a week when we lived in our old condo on H Ave. The power went out at least 4 times, not counting multiple up and downs in a period of 30 minutes. One day, they replaced the transformer twice on the same day. They took down the blown transformer, put up a new one, it didn't work, so they waited about an hour and a half for another one, put it up just to go down not very long later. They must be reusing these things. Refurbish transformers that blew to be reused later.
But hey, I'll be fair. PSO is trying the best they can with what they have to work with. When the power goes out, they respond very quickly. Not too long ago, the entire southwest side of Lawton went black leaving around 20,000 people in the dark. It happen around 3:00pm, and everyone was back on the grid before dusk.
Lawton is an old town (in Oklahoma terms) and a relatively poor town. So what upgrading they can do to the system will have to be gradual.
And the majority of blackouts happen during the summer. When the temperatures exceed 110 degrees, equipment start to melt, power is pumping at their limits, people act stupid, so stuff will break.
Ever seen a transformer blow up? It can be really cool. There's a loud boom, sparks, sometimes flames, arching.
This happen while still living with my parents in Duncan. We were in the back yard when we heard a loud boom, electric noises, and seen flashes that could be described as the light generated by a lightning strike. Soon later, a fire truck rushed over. The pole and transformer were burning. On that hot summer day, the power was out for at least 2 hours.
They had to replace the pole, the transformer, and part of the power line. They got it all put together, turn the power back on.....BOOM! Right off the bat sparks started flying. I'm guessing because everyone's air conditioners on the entire block were still on, the new transformer had a weak point and couldn't take the initial jolt.
They called the fire department back over and had to start all over again. This time, the fire department stayed until everything was reconnected and put back online.
Hmm, wonder how solar technology is doing? When will it become practical to generate my own electricity?
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Posted by: admin
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Thursday, May 17 2007
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User's Comments
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Lowerpowerline
Thursday 17th of May 2007
one of my favorite transformer fires:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_UWITJjrSU
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Jason
Thursday 17th of May 2007
Aah, good. You're still alive!
That's an awesome video. I had to watch it at least 10 times and save it to my favorites for later viewing.
The thing I was tang about happen on Chisholm. You know, east of my house, along that alley we drove our cars in, next to that church.
It looked something like this.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHSBph71GX8
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