Man, that Hurricane Ida is a humdinger, causing power outages even to such flung places as Michigan and California

 

Day Eight: 3k still without power in Michigan from the electric utility Consumers Energy

 

They've trotted out the CEO of the company in radio ads the last two days to thank everyone for their patience.

No one apologizes anymore in this country, for anything.

Day Seven: 10k in Michigan still without power from Consumers Energy

 

Day Six: 26k still without power from Consumers Energy in Michigan

 Way to go, Brownie.

DAY FIVE: 50,000+ still without power from Consumers Energy across Michigan

 

Michigan is increasingly like a third world shit-hole: Day four without electrical power from Consumers Energy, over 81k still affected

My electric power went out Tuesday night at about 11pm.

It is still out.

Over 81,000 customers, just of Consumers Energy, remain without power four days after a line of storms came through.

The utility runs ads on the radio incessantly saying "Count on us"!

It spends more time and money trying to get consumers to curtail electric usage than it does providing it.

It decommissions coal fired generating capacity and then turns around and buys electricity from Indiana. Under Democrat Gretchen Whitmer we are increasingly like California. 

The utility is a cruel joke, especially this week as humidity levels soared with the heat. Indoor temperatures at night above 80 degrees F make for miserable sleeping, when sleeping occurs at all.

The air is full of the sound of generators, day and night. Lines are long at gasoline stations where people wait to fill their cans to get them through another night.

Green energy isn't green, and the power company doesn't provide it, green or otherwise.

 

 

This has to be the dumbest blackout story ever written: The crisis is entirely of their own making

Blackouts Threaten Entire U.S. West This Summer as Heat Awaits :

States shuttering coal and gas-fired power plants simply aren’t replacing them fast enough to keep pace with the vagaries of an unstable climate, and the region’s existing power infrastructure is woefully vulnerable to wildfires (which threaten transmission lines), drought (which saps once-abundant hydropower resources) and heat waves (which play havoc with demand).

 

Well don't shutter 'em then!

 

Bunch of idiots.

Venezuela north: 230,000 still without power in Michigan as of Monday morning and many will be until Thursday

More than 230,000 in Michigan still without power after weekend storms:

The massive outages seem to mostly be affecting DTE customers in the east side of the state as Consumers Energy is reporting only about 35,000 customers currently without power.

Latest estimates put more than 800,000 without electric power in immediate aftermath of Michigan storms

After more than 800,000 lose power across Michigan, some won’t be restored until mid-week:

At one point in the immediate aftermath of Friday night and Saturday’s storms, nearly 600,000 DTE customers lost power [in Southeast Michigan]. Consumers Energy had about 67,000 homes and businesses still without power [Sunday night], compared to the 220,000 of its customers affected overall [in West Michigan]. ... DTE officials called the multiple storms one of the worst events its crews have ever dealt with. ... Since Friday, DTE says it has receive [sic] reports of more than 2,000 downed wires.

Temperatures in Grand Rapids, MI collapsed from 85 to 71 after 1:53am Saturday July 20th as storms knocked out power to thousands in West Michigan

The Sams Club in Kentwood lost power in the early morning storm, closing down the store and gas station for the day Saturday, which is quite unusual.

Workers there were observed after 1:00pm at the rear of the building tossing no longer refrigerated and frozen foods.

Consumers Energy crews were observed near the intersection with the store attempting to restore power in the sweltering heat.

The heat index not much later soared to 108 by 2:53pm.

A second round of storms after 4:00pm Saturday crashed actual air temperatures from 89 to 74, complicating the on-going power restoration efforts.

More than 500,000 without power in Michigan a day after ‘worst storm’ of the year:

While there are outages across the state, the Southeast Side of Michigan has the highest concentration. DTE Energy this morning said 375,000 of its customers remain without electricity after what it called the “worst storm” its line workers have dealt with this year.

" ... The weather event downed 1,100 power lines, making this the worst storm our region has experienced this year and one of the largest since the March 2017 wind storm," the utility said. ...

In West Michigan and the central part of the state, Consumers Energy was reporting about 122,000 customers without power today. Great Lakes Energy added to the tally with nearly 5,000 outages, mostly in Lake, Oceana and Osceola counties. ...

While there were strong wind gusts across the Lower Peninsula on Saturday, the most damaging happened in the areas of Kent and Ottawa counties [in West Michigan], the National Weather Service said. The damaging winds that took the house apart in the Jenison area were described as a “microburst.”

Phone and internet have been down in Grand Rapids, MI for many people since 2:00 AM Saturday

Because of severe thunderstorms. NOAA gave us about 30 minutes warning in an email, while we were asleep. The weather radio never went off.

Just now got back up, despite having power and A/C the whole time.

Civilization as we know it hangs by a thread, but we simply undertook useful tasks and our customary simple entertainments instead.

Power outage Manhattan: 42 is the answer to everything

BIG ZAPPLE New York power outage grinds Manhattan to a halt stopping subways and Broadway shows EXACTLY 42 years after 1977 blackout:

It comes exactly 42 years to the day - and very nearly to the hour - since a famous blackout plunged New York into darkness on July 13, 1977.

Last week we nearly had no natural gas in Grands Rapids, Michigan, this week an ice storm took out the power

Another one-two punch for us here in western lower Michigan from Mother Nature, where it's now 45F and the ice storm has melted away. Going down to 17F by midnight, though. Been there. Doin' it again.

The utility companies in Minnesota wouldn't have to say this if natural gas were reserved for residential heating and coal for electricity

Extreme Cold Straining Xcel Energy’s Natural Gas System, Residents Urged To Turn Down Thermostat:

“We need those in Becker, Big Lake, Chisago City, Lindstrom, Princeton, and Isanti to reduce use of natural gas. Until further notice, you are urged to turn down your thermostat to 60 degrees or lower and avoid the use of other natural gas appliances including hot water,” Xcel Energy said. WCCO’s Reg Chapman said shortly before noon Wednesday that Xcel Energy is asking customers to lower thermostat to 55 degrees. Xcel Energy says residents’ cooperation is critical to prevent widespread natural gas outages. The company also suggests using electric space heaters.

About 39% of utility-scale electricity generation in Minnesota came from coal-fired electric power plants in 2017, down from 49% in 2014.

Increasing amounts of natural gas are fueling electricity generation in the state. In 2016, about one-seventh of the natural gas consumed in Minnesota went to the electric power sector, more than double the amount of natural gas used for electricity generation in 2011.

Whenever I'm hating Michigan for some reason I just look at this map to remind myself why I'm here

We always rank in the top five for power outages, however.

Striking electrical workers suspected in cable vandalism leading to 80,000 New Yorkers losing cable, internet and phone

I felt a great disturbance in The Farce.

From the story here:

Spectrum crews spent the day fixing cables on Henry and Sackett Streets, blaming vandalism and pointing to the rise in outages since its electric workers went on strike. ... Over the summer, charges were dropped against a striking worker blamed in similar sabotage pending further investigation.

Over 42,000 still without power in southwest lower Michigan 42 hours after storm

About 27 hours after the storm hit, nearly 100,000 are still without power in southwest lower Michigan

Michigan ranks fourth in the nation for power outages, first on a per capita basis since 2011

Reported here.

And in Crain's Detroit Business, here.

Maybe up to 1 million lost power in Michigan, but mlive says "millions"!

The age of hyperbole rolls on.

Everything is awesome.

Here: