Yeah, That’s Always the Solution

Yes, read that title with a serious sense of sarcasm because unsurprisingly we have the following.

Some officials are calling for the U.S. military to take over the managerial structure of the Long Island Power Authority until power is restored on Long Island, where more than a quarter million homes and businesses are still in the dark after Sandy and a snowstorm.

Because fighting a war is so close to restoring and rebuilding the electric power system?  Don’t get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for the military, but there is nothing to indicate they have the skills or abilities necessary to fix this problem.

Now it must be noted that the Navy does have a few men who actually do know something about the power system and distribution, but they also focus on it being aboard ship, with a smaller system with redundancy designed to survive casualties.  Others would look at the military and say, “Well the military has to supply power to their bases.”  Well even the military is lacking the people and skills to do that now days.

By September 30, 2003, most of the over two thousand utility systems owned and operated by the Military Departments are to be privatized. See DoD Reform Initiative Directive #49. Utility systems include systems: (1) for the generation and supply of electric power; (2) for the supply of natural gas; (3) for the transmission of telecommunications; (4) for the treatment or supply of water; (5) for the collection or treatment of wastewater; and (6) for the generation or supply of steam, hot water, and chilled water.

So what exactly would involving the government in the power restoration process do other than create an additional layer of bureaucratic red tape to go through?

There was a considerable amount of damage and it is very serious and not simple.  Many lines that have been repaired remain out of service because there isn’t enough power feeding in to support the line currently.  Not to mention the fact that there has also been damage to the natural gas system and other areas will not have power restored until the gas problems are fixed.

As I said previously:

So what we have is a bunch of distribution points that were/are full of water, need to be drained, the equipment cleaned, checked, maintained, and replaced possibly in some instances.  All of this must be done before re-energizing that circuit.

That takes time, it doesn’t happen overnight, and given the fact that salt water, metal, and electricity is involved  you better do it right.  If you don’t it will be more likely to fail in the future.

Does it suck being out of power?  Yes it does and anyone who thinks a utility doesn’t care about it’s customers being out of power, specifically a significant amount, doesn’t have a brain between their ears.  Each day service is down is a day of lost revenue.  Figure how many people there are, not to mention commercial customers, and then think about how much they’re loosing overall.

Yet again a group of people are screaming the government will magically solve the problem.  Most of those same people actually don’t have a clue about what’s actually going on.

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About TMM

TMM is the owner, editor, and principal author at The Minuteman, a competitive shooter, and staff member for Boomershoot. Even in his free time he’s merging his love and knowledge of computers and technology with his love of firearms. Many know his private name and information however due to the current political climate, many are distancing themselves due to the abandonment of Due Process.

4 Responses to Yeah, That’s Always the Solution

  1. Old NFO says:

    And I’m betting a part of the ‘issue’ is that they are non-union…

  2. JSW says:

    One reason I see coming out of the military being in place is that when the power does not come back on because the coal-fired power plants are shut down, there’s going to be hell to pay. Really, it has nothing to do with ‘non union’, though that is part of the plan.

    • Barron says:

      Except that still doesn’t explain what the government would magically bring to the table. There’s three reasons a coal plant isn’t online.
      1) It turned off during the storm during the load shed and doesn’t have self-start capability. Not much you can do about this, it needs an external source to synchronize to.
      2) There is not enough load for the plant to run. Most people don’t know this but coal plants actually operate and a fixed % of operation with a very narrow window band. The reason for this is stresses to equipment as well as efficiency. Given the amount of load that still hasn’t been restored, it wouldn’t surprise me that the generators stay down.
      3) Damage to the plant that need repair. This could be anything from fuel feeders to the steam turbine itself.

      None of those three options would benefit from a military take over. It might benefit from extra man power except most issues that would happen within the plant are all skilled labor.

      As for the self start, the military could help by bringing big enough gen-sets onsite to help energize the plant and start it. Again, you don’t need the military to take over for that.