Elvis Hargrove said the following to Mike Ross on the subject of
Re: Power Factor in DC cc (21 Jan 98  20:57:11)
 -> Ice Storm of '98 refugee.
 EH> We give special dispensation for refugees. 
Many thanks for your people's support, Elvis. I gave a surprised
linesman from Pennsylvania a great big hug when he stepped out of his
truck. I may have even planted a kiss on each cheek, I can't clearly
recall anymore.
What gave everyone here such a shock was the realization of their utter
dependance on electricity for their very survival. Some 80% of homes in
the greater metropolitan area depend for their heat on electric power
which is transported from many hundreds of miles away in the James Bay
area mega-dam projects.
The sensible policy of using more locally distributed electrical
generation had been bulldozed aside starting about 40 years ago by
political motivations that eventually in the 1960's promised hundreds of
thousands of jobs to win elections. Smaller local dams were in fact even
shut down.
Still now, the government owned utility monopoly has embarked on a
solution of building more transmission lines. Rather than admitting the
glaring flaw in their traditional policy of massive generation far
removed from the populated centers, they are going with a band-aid PR
solution which will still leave the population as vulnerable as they
were before to such calamities as this ice storm turned out to be.
I'm really disgusted more so because the government has so far refused
the call for an inquiry. An example of the backwardness of the
government thinking on this matter which might surprise you is that
contrary to the rest of the continent, we actually have laws which
prohibit co-generation. All the eggs in the same basket you could say.
... Ice Storm of '98 refugee.
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