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Power Outtage Explanation
Jul. 19th, 2006 03:53 pmThe very nice woman from NSTAR named Robin got back to me today, as soon as she had the information about Monday night's power loss. Apparently a transformer fuse blew, because the circuit our building is on had the highest load demand that they've ever recorded (for that circuit).
I'm very glad that she got back to me, but I have to say that I am disappointed in NSTAR. Let me say from the outset that I could very well have my facts wrong, but from what I understand, NSTAR hasn't done the upgrade they've really needed to do on our transmission lines over the past few years. Basically, it's a large capital expenditure to upgrade everything, so instead of fixing it all at once they've simply patched it as problems arose. Needless to say, this results in a system that in the long run, costs more money to fix.
It reminds me of an experience I had once at a school where I was teaching science with old textbooks. I wanted to buy a brand new set of books, but I couldn't because we didn't have the budget for it. Every year, however, I'd have to replace a bunch of the old books because students lost them, and so I had to buy replacement books that I knew were out-of-date. So instead of spending a whole lot of money at once to get new books, I spent that same amount of money over a few years replacing out-of-date books.
If anyone from NSTAR is out there reading this and can correct my understanding of the situation, I'd be happy to hear from you.
I'm very glad that she got back to me, but I have to say that I am disappointed in NSTAR. Let me say from the outset that I could very well have my facts wrong, but from what I understand, NSTAR hasn't done the upgrade they've really needed to do on our transmission lines over the past few years. Basically, it's a large capital expenditure to upgrade everything, so instead of fixing it all at once they've simply patched it as problems arose. Needless to say, this results in a system that in the long run, costs more money to fix.
It reminds me of an experience I had once at a school where I was teaching science with old textbooks. I wanted to buy a brand new set of books, but I couldn't because we didn't have the budget for it. Every year, however, I'd have to replace a bunch of the old books because students lost them, and so I had to buy replacement books that I knew were out-of-date. So instead of spending a whole lot of money at once to get new books, I spent that same amount of money over a few years replacing out-of-date books.
If anyone from NSTAR is out there reading this and can correct my understanding of the situation, I'd be happy to hear from you.
