Warning: PG&E on the warpath

[electricguy61]

They already know the Smart Meter is Offline. After today's storms in California good luck in getting any services connected for a while.

Yup. Sad but true

 

[Fulthrotl]

Are SCE and SDG&E as bad?

i've never had any problem with SCE. SDG&E i've not had to deal
with much, but i've heard horror stories over the years.

LADWP is a whole 'nother mother. when they ripped out the old
technicolor film processing plant in hollywood, there was a 34.5kv
substation in the basement. it was DWP property.

DWP made then wait a year before removing it. a whole city block square
had been demoed and hauled off, and there was this little corner of a building,
with a basement under it, and three of us spent two days pulling out the
transformer. 6 man days, and a crane for a day. made 'em wait a year.

i have no idea what the cost in the construction loan was for holding up a
block square development for about 4 months.

don't piss off DWP. just don't.

 

[Fulthrotl]

They already know the Smart Meter is Offline. After today's storms in California good luck in getting any services connected for a while.

it's not gonna happen. PCH here is closed, and they are having some
places in orange county evacuate due to mudslides.. i can only imagine
what the bay looks like by now. they got more rain than we did.

this is what we looked like this afternoon:

 

[jaggedben]

it's not gonna happen. PCH here is closed, and they are having some
places in orange county evacuate due to mudslides.. i can only imagine
what the bay looks like by now. they got more rain than we did.

this is what we looked like this afternoon:

The Bay is fine. We went through much worse a couple weeks back, and a couple weeks before that. You got hit much worse this time.

 

[jaggedben]

They already know the Smart Meter is Offline. After today's storms in California good luck in getting any services connected for a while.

The point is, better to be in the emergency outage cue than the 'routine calls' cue.

 

[kwired]

Looks like you are supposed to sell a standby generator with a service upgrade in some places if you want power outage to be as minimal as possible. Or build a new service while leaving the existing in operation - and make arrangements so it is somehow a fairly simple switch from old to new at the time the POCO does finally come to switch it over.

And if a tree branch falls on the service drop damaging anything on the house - better just bring a generator the first time you show up, if the customer wants power ASAP.

Do they do this to big businesses or the wealthy neighborhoods? I bet at least it is to a lesser degree in those places, the poor and middle class are the ones that won't fight back very hard so they get away with it there.

 

[peter d]

Ooohhh, that's going to leave a mark.

 

[chris1971]

The Bay is fine. We went through much worse a couple weeks back, and a couple weeks before that. You got hit much worse this time.

Looks like California is getting slammed with some nasty storms. I hope the dam holds and doesn't flood the state.

 

[ActionDave]

Looks like California is getting slammed with some nasty storms. I hope the dam holds and doesn't flood the state.

When it's not shaking it's burning or flooding or mudsliding, and when that's not going on they find a way to legislate a disaster to hold them over till the next natural one can come along.

 

[jumper]

When it's not shaking it's burning or flooding or mudsliding, and when that's not going on they find a way to legislate a disaster to hold them over till the next natural one can come along.

Ya forgot the potential for a volcanic eruption.

One of these days Mt. Shasta is gonna pop like Mt. St Helens.

https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/mount_shasta/

I do not really miss that state.

Of course the hurricanes on this coast ain't pleasant either.

 

[norcal]

Looks like California is getting slammed with some nasty storms. I hope the dam holds and doesn't flood the state.

I don't see the dam failing, but the spillway issues are going to be a problem until the end of the spring snow melt. I live 20 some odd miles from Horribleville, but the water (if the dam were to fail:happysad would be going away from me.

SoCal is getting hit pretty hard.

 

[gadfly56]

Ya forgot the potential for a volcanic eruption.

One of these days Mt. Shasta is gonna pop like Mt. St Helens.

https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/mount_shasta/

I do not really miss that state.

Of course the hurricanes on this coast ain't pleasant either.

I'm just up the coast a bit, and it's been 50 years or so since we've actually been hit by a hurricane. Lots of leftover wind and rain from many, but no direct hit. According to Wikipedia, Maryland has had a similar deficit.

 

[Fulthrotl]

I don't see the dam failing, but the spillway issues are going to be a problem until the end of the spring snow melt. I live 20 some odd miles from Horribleville, but the water (if the dam were to fail:happysad would be going away from me.

SoCal is getting hit pretty hard.

it's ok here..... just a light drizzle at this point.

it's been interesting to watch all the hyperbole about
oroville dam. online in many places, it's segued into
a political discourse, with some pretty extreme connections
to partisan politics.

thinking back to katrina, i don't remember the political froth
attached to it, other than criticism of the way FEMA handled it.

at this point, i've developed almost an allergic reaction to political
froth. friends on facebook in the last year, have gone from 1,700
to 335.

most of what you need to know about oroville, is the level. where is
it now, and which way is it going. here it is. things are ok, right now.

http://rdcfeeds.redding.com/lakelevels/oro.cfm

 

[gadfly56]

it's ok here..... just a light drizzle at this point.

it's been interesting to watch all the hyperbole about
oroville dam. online in many places, it's segued into
a political discourse, with some pretty extreme connections
to partisan politics.

thinking back to katrina, i don't remember the political froth
attached to it, other than criticism of the way FEMA handled it.

at this point, i've developed almost an allergic reaction to political
froth. friends on facebook in the last year, have gone from 1,700
to 335.

most of what you need to know about oroville, is the level. where is
it now, and which way is it going. here it is. things are ok, right now.

http://rdcfeeds.redding.com/lakelevels/oro.cfm

Depending on where you look, there's somewhere between 4" - 11" on it's way over the next week. The catchment/impoundment area ratio is about 130/1. The fear is that the flow from the damaged spillway is eroding the hillside going right, headed for the dam proper. We'll say a prayer or two, just in case.

 

[meternerd]

Wow...LONG thread....I really feel for the customer. We in Truckee are our own entity, but we have similar issues on a smaller scale. When we have a winter like this one, with trees down, wire down (both primary and service drops), poles broken, access impossible to some service equipment...I could go on. General plan is the transmission first to any substations that are out, then distribution, and finally individual services. Frozen hot tubs, cold houses, etc. are an unfortunate result. But...to have to wait hours or days for a normal reconnect? Ridiculous! In that case, we'd just have the electrician do whatever is necessary to get the customer's power back on, then deal with the paperwork later. Talking to PG&E, SCE and others out in the field makes me glad I was working where I was. Politics....GRRRR!

 

[Ponchik]

I know I will be hit with this PG&E "BS" one of these days.

Any update from Electricguy61?

 

[jaggedben]

Looks like you are supposed to sell a standby generator with a service upgrade in some places if you want power outage to be as minimal as possible. Or build a new service while leaving the existing in operation - and make arrangements so it is somehow a fairly simple switch from old to new at the time the POCO does finally come to switch it over.

And if a tree branch falls on the service drop damaging anything on the house - better just bring a generator the first time you show up, if the customer wants power ASAP.

Do they do this to big businesses or the wealthy neighborhoods? I bet at least it is to a lesser degree in those places, the poor and middle class are the ones that won't fight back very hard so they get away with it there.

Good advice on dealing with PG&E these days. Of course it has to cost the customer more. Many places you'll get in trouble with noise ordinances if you get a generator that's too loud and you run it all night. Gotta get an additional permit for that, and so on...

 

[kwired]

Good advice on dealing with PG&E these days. Of course it has to cost the customer more. Many places you'll get in trouble with noise ordinances if you get a generator that's too loud and you run it all night. Gotta get an additional permit for that, and so on...

That is part of why I moved to the country, neighbors are a PITA. That same neighbor that complains about the running generator should support their neighbor instead of make it harder on them. Someday they may need their service changed or an emergency repair and POCO leaves them hanging as well.

 

[ShockedMonkey]

<snip> . . .

FYI bay area guys, now they (PG&E) are really enforcing their stupid rule that you can not have a meter/main installed on a bedroom wall. Watch out for that one.

I haven't heard of this.

I can see understand new construction, but on remodel such as a ranch where ALL of the bedrooms are on one end of the house and the original panel is on that end?! Are there any exceptions to this that you are aware of?

 

[ggunn]

Wow...LONG thread....I really feel for the customer. We in Truckee are our own entity, but we have similar issues on a smaller scale. When we have a winter like this one, with trees down, wire down (both primary and service drops), poles broken, access impossible to some service equipment...I could go on. General plan is the transmission first to any substations that are out, then distribution, and finally individual services. Frozen hot tubs, cold houses, etc. are an unfortunate result. But...to have to wait hours or days for a normal reconnect? Ridiculous! In that case, we'd just have the electrician do whatever is necessary to get the customer's power back on, then deal with the paperwork later. Talking to PG&E, SCE and others out in the field makes me glad I was working where I was. Politics....GRRRR!

FWIW, I have a friend in Houston who lost power during a hurricane (Ike, I believe) and it was seven weeks before it was restored. Luckily, he had a friend who only lost power for a few days and who had a generator to lend. My friend and his wife lived in their detached garage (outfitted as a music studio) with the borrowed generator until the POCO got around to reconnecting them.