Last night there was a gas leak that caused an evacuation of a few blocks of Rock Island. The news channel said it was a regulator that failed and they got it fixed. Could this be an embedded thing? This is Mid-American Gas and Electric Company that covers this area. Also on a side note we are on the same system (rural) and there have been power glitches all week, some only long enough to kick the micowave clock off, some long enough to get the computer kicked. I called after the 2nd glitch and they told me a squirrel got a transformer the night before (power was off no more than 5 minutes here) and they thought they had the problem fixed but didn't and that is what caused the glitch the next day. I asked if they were working on the lines because of y2k and of course they denied it and told me to blame the squirrel. But now everyday we have glitches. Thanks. Jo

-- Jo Stang (tj4261@geneseo.net), September 02, 1999

Answers

There's no embedded chips in gas regulators. Could have been a ruptured diaphram, dirt on the seat, or warn out parts. Our crew repaired one the other day.

-- Rasty (Rasty@bulldogg.com), September 02, 1999.

Jo,

Our power has been flashing for two months. Same symptoms you have but sometimes off for and hour or more. They told us the same thing about the squirrels. It went off in Madison for about two hours. I called a friend and she told me they said it was also squirrels.

LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE

-- (SickofThis@crap.com), September 02, 1999.

This is a classic example of a Y2K embedded chip problem, complete with ridiculous cover stories and BS. Just be glad nobody got killed this time. It's only going to get worse from here.

-- (marco@po.lo), September 02, 1999.

It is not just squirrels that cause this problem, it could be large birds landing on the conductor causing them to short out. Also, high winds, tree limbs in the line can cause glitches. Will post more on this subject tonight, gotta go make a buck.

-- Rasty (Rasty@bulldogg.com), September 02, 1999.

Terrible Problem with Multiplication of Non-Y2K-Compliant Squirrels Infecting the Grid.

Next, Terrorists Strike Grid.

Tomorrow, those Wacky Doomer Thoughts Short Out Grid.

Next Week, Solar Flares, the Other Y2K, Bring Grid Down.

Those Damn Drunk Drivers Knocked Too Many Poles Down

Darn, North Korea Tested Their New EMP Device, Grid Kaput

(please ignore the computer problem)

BTW, we know from the MOST reliable inside source that Gas Regulators in Portland, OR are NOT compliant and will most likely not be replaced by New Year's Evil.
Contingency Plan: Bring all those nice folks out of retirement and have them manually regulate the 100s of Regulators. Yes, in the middle of the night when Cascadia is in the grip of howling winds, freezing rain, sub-zero Artic storms, etc. Real Smart !!!!

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), September 02, 1999.

This is too much! Another Squirrel Sighting!
Diane, you'll have to start a new Squirrel Category ;^)

[ Fair Use: For Educational/Research Purposes Only ]

http://www.channel6000.com/news/stories/news-990902-112732.html

BULLETIN
Power Restored Near PDX

Airport Operations Not Affected

PORTLAND, Updated 11:15 a.m. September 2, 1999 -- A squirrel is the apparent cause of a power outage near the Portland International Airport.

According to KOIN 6 News, the little animal crawled into a switch that tripped the Killingsworth substation.

Doug Roberts of the Port of Portland tells KOIN the airport terminal was on reserve power, but is now back on regular power. Service at PDX was not affected during the outage.

Approximately 2,500 customers were affected by the outage ... "

HOW WILLY WILLY STOOOOPID DO TPTB THINK THE WEEPLES REALLY ARE?

Squirrel Incident #1,893,095,449
Sudden Simultaneous Squirrel Invasion Threatens USA

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), September 02, 1999.

Don't know about other places, but here in the Midwest, this is high season for squirrel activity. For some reason, all the ripening nuts in the trees seem to really make them active. Could be something to do with the coming winter? I work for the local power company, and believe it or not, the little rascals can cause us a lot of headaches. We track the causes of our outages, and squirrels (and snakes too) have their own code because they cause so many outages. Snakes you say? Yes, they like to crawl into the underground transformers for warmth, and when they touch the wrong things, it gets a little "hotter" for them than they can take. At 8000 volts, snakes make pretty good conductors, with enough resistance to cause some heat as well. In the "old" days, this would blow a fuse, and the power would just go out and stay out. These days, we use devices that "open" the circuit for a fraction of a second (about the amount of time it takes for the critter to finish burning clear of of the wire) and then close it again, all automatically. A money saver for the power company (don't have to send someone out to replace a fuse), and for a while customers were happy as well (just a blink instead of a full outage). But in the era of "electronic" everything, these "momentary" outages cause big problems for electronic devices - most are very intolerant of power fluctuations. Chances are pretty good that in this case, a squirrel is really a squirrel, especially this time of year.

e.m.

-- Eyell Makedo (make_do@hotmail.com), September 03, 1999.