Posted by (+839) 14 years ago

I'm going to rant a little.
It is 7:15 in the morning and all my electronic devices just reset themselves. Why? because MDU has, without a doubt, the WORST power distribution I have ever experienced in my life. This is the THIRD power outage in a week! We haven't even had any storms! WTH-over! Never very long, just long enough to switch the grid around a little I guess. But long enough to [expletive removed] P!$$ me off!
WHY would you realign the grid at 7:15 in the morning? Are we really that stupid? Can't we wait until 8:00? How many people will be late for work this morning because all their clocks are blinking "12:00" "-----" "12:00" "-----" "12:00 ""-----" "12:00" "-----" "12:00" "-----" "12:00". I don't even bother resetting my clocks anymore. My stove has been at "12:00" for the past 18 months or more.
My UPS logs out-of-tolerance power events. It has to kick in two or three times a week! [overvoltage - very rare, brownout(undervoltage) common, blackout - EXTREMELY common, and usually very brief] Come on, that's ridiculous! 150 power anomalies per year! This would be OK in a non technical society, but this is 2007 - everything wants good power!
Our power supply warranty rates are more then DOUBLE the manufacturers national average (which they pound on me for BTW).
I propose a solution:
We all band together and create a renewable energy cooperative. We install solar and wind systems with batteries and inverters for everyone. We engage in a net metering agreement with MDU and then WE supply the grid when they are down, or sell our power to our neighbors. Everyone wins - we get stable power, our neighbors get stable power, MDU isn't forced to stabilize their grid, and I get one less thing to [email protected]# about!
