electricity distribution

Record summer highs prompt rolling blackouts

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Record-setting summer heat drives more of us inside for air-conditioned relief. All that demand is more than the electrical power grid can provide. As a result, it’s likely we will soon face the return of rolling blackouts. “The power grid can only supply so much power,” says Master Electrician Jim Fish with Generator Power Systems. […]

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A bad driver could put you in the dark

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Two drivers racing on the Gulf Freeway’s feeder road couldn’t have known how expensive their fun would be to people they’d never meet. As their vehicles raced at high-speed, swapping lanes for fun, one of them lost control, rolled over and took out a power pole. Instantly, over 10,000 homes and businesses were in the […]

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Broken promises of standby power: a cautionary tale

Make a promise. Keep a promise. It’s how Jim Rambousek lives his life and what he expected when buying a standby power generator. Unfortunately, his was an experience of broken promises. While he thought he was getting a system from a “trustworthy” salesman, what he got was an expensive broken promise. The power supply to […]

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Does cheap power equal rolling blackouts?

Generating power is as much about making a profit as it is about providing a service. That’s the bottom-line result of deregulation. So, what happens when making power doesn’t generate enough profit to pay for new power plants? Rolling blackouts. Get ready, there are more to come.

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Cold and in the dark? You’re not alone.

Nearly three-quarters of a million Houstonians were in the dark due to Groundhog Day 2011 blackouts without a hurricane in sight. The culprit, cold weather, drove power demand to levels the system could simply not meet.

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