Westar power outage

[pepelect]

What has happened to all the electricity?  In the short time since the rate increase for the poor abused electric company the lights have blinked more than they have since the last ice storm. 

Is this the new government bailout plan in action give more money for lesser service?  Why not start the infastructure rebuild in Elk County.  We have some of the oldest most half assed electrical poles and line of anywhere in the state.  Why not remove the trees over, in and around the lines before they cause a problem?  What happened to a little preventative measures to keep problems from distruption? 

If the poles are 40+ years old and the Kansas winds and ice haven't taken them down yet then why not clone those trees and put them in a museum but put up some new ones in their place.   The new metal super poles west of Howard sure lasted the 30-50 years that the original ones did....not...I would have never guessed that an engineered line in this century would not have a wind load calculation for Kansas.  It is Kansas people.  We have ice, then wind, then more ice, then some rain, with more wind after that.  Tinkertoys are not going to do it.  Not in the flint hills.  Why do you think the wind towers are built with so much super stucture??  I didn't see them laying on the ground like dominos.....


Generators are very good investments for Westar customers....

[rickperk]

are you bored or just didn't go to church?

[Wilma]

He is right about trimming the trees away from the lines and replacing old poles before they rot away.

I would like to see something like the reverse 911 or the old party line where everyone concerned could be told why the power is off and when it should be back on.

[Mom70x7]

Someone said the electricity was off because the poles were burned.
           

[pepelect]

are you bored or just didn't go to church?

I would have responded to your elitist live in town where the power is always on comments but we lost power again and I couldn't.

I agree it would be nice to know what is going on when we have a power outage.  If it is going to be a 2 hour fix or if we need to bring in more resources for a week tour.  My biggest consern is if there is enough diesel to keep the power on before utility is restored.  There must be some one in the Westar organization that could drop a dime and at least tell the county dispatch how long or just an approximation.  It is not about being inconvienced it is about being prepared for the next day.  We all get rumors and hear say and they are not fact.  They have a cool web site that shows how many people are out through out Kansas at any given time but it is pretty much usless for those without power unless there is some way to power up the computer to view it.  It is a catch 22.  It looks like a web response would be the easiest way to communicate but when the power is off the web is hard to view.

As far as fire causing poles down.  It can happen very easily.  The older the pole the drier it is.  The dry poles can start with out much help.  Praire fire has been around for about 4000 years.  I think the poles were put in after that.  If you leave grass and brush against the poles and then burn the pasture it will catch the pole.   Is it the utility that has the easement for the pasture land or the pasture land that has easement to the poles?  If you don't take care of your stuff you are at the mercy of the elements.  Earth, wind, fire, and man can be very distructive but you need all of them...

[sixdogsmom]

Well, Westar does have an automated message that will give an answer to your power outage. Yesterday it kept saying the power would be back on around noon, even though it was after 3:00PM when it was finally restored. That does help though, at least we could expect it back on within a reasonable time, and the outage is more than just your house.

[flo]

I waited about 30 min. to report then called the power outage report line.  They said there was trouble with the transmitting line and it was estimated (key word is "estimated") that the power would be restored about noon.  It was a good afternoon for a nap.

[Rudy Taylor]

It was off throughout Chautauqua County at the same time, and even in parts of Montgomery County.

But when I promised I would go to church on Easter, my electricity came back on.

[Tobina+1]

Two years ago, Caney Valley was out in full force in this area of the county replacing ALL the poles, cutting trees and brush away from the lines, and maybe even replacing the lines themselves.  It does take quite a lot of ice for our electricity to go out now, and usually it's further South that's the problem.  This Westar outage affected Caney Valley rural people, too.  From about 9:30 am Saturday to about 3 pm... and then again sometime around 9:00 pm for about 10 minutes.  Made for a dramatic reading of the Easter Vigil readings at Mass in Moline!  Everyone just re-lit candles and we continued the readings until the lights came back on!  Glad they were back on for the Gloria!... It's much more dramatic when the organ plays and the church bells ring!

[Flintauqua]

Some information on how electricity gets to Elk and Chautauqua counties.

The nice "high-line" that everyone drives under south of Howard on 99, looks like it carries a lot of juice.  It does, 345 Kilovolts worth.  Unfortunately, none of that capacity is connected to the distribution network in Elk County.

Instead, a measly 69 Kilovolt line (the smallest that is considered transmission, rather that distribution) runs from a substation one mile south of US 160 and Peter Pan Road in Independence (that's the entrance to the evil retail menace that ran three grocery stores and a K-Mart out of town) over to the substation at the Quivera Scout Lake Road on K99.  From there it splits and runs north to the substation one mile south of Murphy's in Moline.  That substation is the end of the "grid" as far as Elk County is concerned.  From there distribution level lines feed nearly all of Elk County.

From Quivera the 69Kv continues south to Sedan and then runs west, eventually tying back into the grid at a substation at Hackney (Strother Field) 

So, when something happens to disrupt this single transmission line, nearly all of Elk and Chautauqua Counties can go down.  And that disruption can be as far away as Independence or Strother Field.