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Current Events => Breaking News => Topic started by: NHSparky on September 09, 2011, 07:18:41 AM

Title: Huge blackout darkens Yuma, Southwest
Post by: NHSparky on September 09, 2011, 07:18:41 AM
Huge blackout darkens Yuma, Southwest

(http://images.onset.freedom.com/yumasun/1191388448-energycorridorweb.jpg)

September 08, 2011 10:18 PM
BY CHRIS McDANIEL - SUN STAFF WRITER
(c) Yuma Sun

LINK (http://www.yumasun.com/news/yuma-72827-power-friday.html?bcsi_scan_0036C367A19A7667=zxSzIxL45iYb3EF+j38epAmtLnBLAAAA31X/KA==&bcsi_scan_filename=yuma-72827-power-friday.html)

(excerpt)

Maintenance conducted by APS on the Gila Substation northeast of Yuma Thursday afternoon caused a cascade effect that led to the loss of power for up to 5 million residents in Arizona, Southern California and Mexico officials stated.

Among APS customers, approximately 56,000 lost service throughout Yuma, Somerton, San Luis and Gadsden. APS was able to restore power to area customers by 10 p.m.

According to APS, at approximately 3:30 p.m., the North Gila - Hassayampa 500 kV transmission line near Yuma tripped offline resulting in a major power outage.

The line connects to the Hassayampa Switchyard, which interconnects the generating facilities in the vicinity of the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station located approximately 60 miles west of Phoenix, and serves as a major electrical conduit into Southern California.

“From that switchyard, the power goes west out of there on the North Gila - Hassayampa 500 kV line, and that is the only line that goes from Arizona to San Diego County, and it goes through Yuma,” explained Jeff Lane, spokesman for the Salt River Project, which operates the Hassayampa Switchyard.

===================================================================================

Basically, and I'm only guessing at this point since I haven't seen any reports yet and APSC, SRP, and SDGE are still working on the issue, this is what I'm thinking happened:

Workers doing maintenance on carrier equipment for the 500KV line at the ends of the line.  For whatever reason, not all the trips are removed or considered, and when the line is tested (normally all trips are blocked and line won't trip) it inadvertently trips. 

Huge amount of power (500KV line could easily handle 1500-2000 MW) now not being transmitted on this line.  VERY hot day (110-plus in parts of CA/AZ.)  EVERY line now plowing in trying to make up for this lost transmission line, cascading to the point where all the lines into the demand (in this case, SD), just say, "Screw it--TRIP!"  Which is also what happened with San Onofre--the lines out of there (which are only 230KV) also dumped, which will trip the turbines and scram the plants.

This is why ISOs get so touchy when you want to do ANYTHING with ANY bulk power line.  This is, in essence, a scaled-down version (but still huge) of the 2003 Northeast blackout.
Title: Re: Huge blackout darkens Yuma, Southwest
Post by: JohnnyReb on September 09, 2011, 07:30:27 AM
“From that switchyard, the power goes west out of there on the North Gila - Hassayampa 500 kV line, and that is the only line that goes from Arizona to San Diego County,

...and terrorist take note of that fact and add it to their book of information. A few of those type lines and they can take the whole country down.
Title: Re: Huge blackout darkens Yuma, Southwest
Post by: NHSparky on September 09, 2011, 07:56:45 AM
“From that switchyard, the power goes west out of there on the North Gila - Hassayampa 500 kV line, and that is the only line that goes from Arizona to San Diego County,

...and terrorist take note of that fact and add it to their book of information. A few of those type lines and they can take the whole country down.

It's nothing they don't already know.
Title: Re: Huge blackout darkens Yuma, Southwest
Post by: JohnnyReb on September 09, 2011, 08:00:37 AM
It's nothing they don't already know.

Yeah, I guess all that power distrubution info is out there somewhere on the internet. Just need to find it or hack into it if need be.
Title: Re: Huge blackout darkens Yuma, Southwest
Post by: CG6468 on September 09, 2011, 08:07:09 AM
Yuma. We spent a year in Yuma one night in 1965. Our '58 Impala convert blew a freeze plug and we had to overnight there. The cold water was too hot for a shower!
Title: Re: Huge blackout darkens Yuma, Southwest
Post by: JohnnyReb on September 09, 2011, 08:11:09 AM
Yuma. We spent a year in Yuma one night in 1965. Our '58 Impala convert blew a freeze plug and we had to overnight there. The cold water was too hot for a shower!

 :rotf: :rotf:...I had a similar "year" in Bangor Maine one night. ...and another in Burlington Vermont the next night...worst "2" years of my life.... :rotf:
Title: Re: Huge blackout darkens Yuma, Southwest
Post by: CG6468 on September 09, 2011, 08:27:14 AM
:rotf: :rotf:...I had a similar "year" in Bangor Maine one night. ...and another in Burlington Vermont the next night...worst "2" years of my life.... :rotf:

The freeze plug blew out between El Centro and Yuma. We were stuck on the side of the road all damned night, and the old stories about truckers stopping to help people is - or was then - bullshit. Finally, after dawn, a trucker did stop, and he agreed to send a tow truck from Yuma. That required two trips - one to get the car, and another to get the big U-Haul trailer we were pulling.

This was when very few cars had air conditioning. Ours did not. Our daughter (4 months old at the time) was on a platform I had built in the back seat of the car and in her - what did they call them then, the car beds for kids?

The whole thing was a nightmare, and then we had to motel it in Yuma. It was the trip from hell.  :banghead:

I spent a year one night in Cleveland, too.  :lmao:
Title: Re: Huge blackout darkens Yuma, Southwest
Post by: IassaFTots on September 09, 2011, 10:14:15 AM
:rotf: :rotf:...I had a similar "year" in Bangor Maine one night. ...and another in Burlington Vermont the next night...worst "2" years of my life.... :rotf:

Heh, I had one of those years in the 80's in Broken Bow, OK.  Not a good place to have a Subaru clutch burn out. 
Title: Re: Huge blackout darkens Yuma, Southwest
Post by: beefeater on September 09, 2011, 11:40:12 AM
Even more worrisome is that Lady NaDa seems to have been knocked off line and can't explain this all to the DUmp and live blog the event.

Hop she still has her survival milk on hand.
Title: Re: Huge blackout darkens Yuma, Southwest
Post by: JohnnyReb on September 09, 2011, 11:47:08 AM
Even more worrisome is that Lady NaDa seems to have been knocked off line and can't explain this all to the DUmp and live blog the event.

Hop she still has her survival milk on hand.

She knows what to do in any disaster except the one that hits her.... :rotf:
Title: Re: Huge blackout darkens Yuma, Southwest
Post by: NHSparky on September 09, 2011, 12:01:27 PM
She knows what to do in any disaster except the one that hits her.... :rotf:

That's because Google and Teh Wiki are unavailable to her when the power goes out.
Title: Re: Huge blackout darkens Yuma, Southwest
Post by: zeitgeist on September 09, 2011, 04:01:29 PM
Even more worrisome is that Lady NaDa seems to have been knocked off line and can't explain this all to the DUmp and live blog the event.

Hop she still has her survival milk on hand.

Hope she still has a manual breast pump. :popcorn:
Title: Re: Huge blackout darkens Yuma, Southwest
Post by: JohnnyReb on September 09, 2011, 04:04:42 PM
Hope she still has a manual breast pump. :popcorn:

Hey, we had a cow that would suck herself.....just saying.
Title: Re: Huge blackout darkens Yuma, Southwest
Post by: Wretched Excess on September 10, 2011, 01:58:34 AM
holy CRAP!  who is Kermit the frog?

and can we get his panties unwadded?

Title: Re: Huge blackout darkens Yuma, Southwest
Post by: CG6468 on September 10, 2011, 07:38:08 AM
holy CRAP!  who is Kermit the frog?

and can we get his panties unwadded?



Yeah! What the hell happened? I have no posts now, and Chris has them all. WTF?
Title: Re: Huge blackout darkens Yuma, Southwest
Post by: NHSparky on September 10, 2011, 10:03:28 AM
All your post are belong to us.