New Diesel Generator Blog

14. September 2009 by admin.

Aurora Generators just launched their new blog / forum on Diesel Generators, Standby Generators and Portable Diesel Generators.

It has videos, how to, DIY, Repair, Tips and Troubleshooting.  www.EmergencyPower.com/blog  The public can also contribute by writing or responding to posts.   The search feature works really well and helps find specific topics.

Looking forward to all the new articles being added each day.

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Placement of generator reconsidered

9. September 2009 by admin.

SHELTON — After considerable outcry from residents, the management of United Methodist Homes has decided to find a new spot for its generator.

The installation of the federally mandated generator raised the ire of those living there, as well as residents of the adjoining Views of Long Hill condominiums because of its size and the potential noise they would hear when it runs. Many also were irked at the placement of the generator because the facility did not get the required Planning and Zoning Commission permits.

Robert Congdon, vice-president of development and public relations, submitted a letter to the Planning and Zoning Commission Friday withdrawing the application without prejudice, with a promise that the facility would meet with residents to find an acceptable spot for the generator before submitting another application.

Last month the commission held a special meeting at the site of the generator to see it firsthand and talk to the neighbors. There, many commissioners voiced frustration that the generator was installed without their knowledge and fielded many complaints from those living directly in front of the generator, which is the size of a large truck body and sits on a large pad that houses the diesel fuel that powers it.

“We are in the process of determining the technical requirements and costs of moving the generator to another location and of visually screening the generator so that it will be in keeping with a residential neighborhood,” Congdon wrote in the letter. “After we have evaluated the options and determined a feasible plan, we intend to invite all the residents of the Views to a meeting at Wesley Heights, where we will present the plan.”

After receiving that input from neighbors, UMH will submit another application within 60 days, he said.

“Wesley Heights is committed to working with the Shelton Planning and Zoning Commission to develop a plan for this required generator that will satisfy the requirements of the city and the concerns of the neighbors,” Congdon said.

“I’m pleased that they’re willing to rectify a problem that came to be because of a lack of communication between them and city offices,” Commissioner Leon J. Sylvester said. Sylvester also owns a unit there where his late parents lived until their deaths. He said he was especially concerned that the neighbors’ views weren’t solicited from the beginning.

“I’m appreciative that they’re willing to accommodate the residents to rectify it,” he said. “They’re doing the right thing.” Sylvester said his criticism isn’t toward the facility itself, which he said does a “wonderful job.

“I do believe they need the generator, there’s no doubt about it,” he said. “But they thoughtlessly placed it there and I’m glad they’re willing to rectify it.”

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XG-SF2000 Review - XG-SF3000 Review

22. June 2009 by admin.

Inverter Generator Review

Thinking of buying an inverter generator?  Do yourself a favor and buy something else. Honda or Yamaha is a great choice and worth the extra cost.  We purchased two of these cheap generators and it ended up costing us more then it would cost to buy a Honda for example and I’m sure we would not have so many problems with it if we did. Now it is time for our Review on the Inverter Generator models XG-SF2000 and XG-SF3000.

We used to be a Kipor Inverter Generator dealer so we are very familiar with these types of generators. Two of us where involved in the test. One of us has a mechanical, electrical and technical background and the other an automotive, parts, generator and hands on experience who is involved in hands on generator repairs and service.

We noticed many companies all selling the same looking thing. We looked further in to it and found out  they are all from the same China company. Just a different sticker on them.

There are two ways to check who it really comes from. One is the sticker on the engine. The EPA certificate often tells you the name of the engine manufacture and the model number.   We found they all say Yongkang Xingguang Electrical Manufacture. The second is from the CSA. CSA will let you put any name on it but the model number must stay the same so we searched the model number and found it.   call comes from the same company. We even got a copy of the certificates.

We also wanted to sell them so we contacted the manufacture and started the purchase process.  They where very quick to respond and produce an invoice for us but they refused to include spare parts to fix them if they fail.  This is almost unheard of.  No parts kits.

The final agreement is we would buy spare parts.  We gave in.   Suspecting no other company would do this we contacted many other dealers looking for spare parts for common things that fail and non of them had any and most would not respond. Not even the company we where about to spend tens of thousands of dollars with would supply parts not even defective ones.   Since asking over a week ago before completing or order even, they have not responded and offered horrible technical support to date.

We went ahead anyway because we have the ability to service them but we would just require parts.  We purchased 2 sample units and this is what happened.

When it fist arrived we where impressed with the packaging but it all went down hill from there.

Like most products from China the manual and stickers on the generator are hard to understand.   English documents should be left to someone who understands the language when you manufacture a product for sale in North America. Clearly customers would have problems with it. The print quality was also poor.

The first generator was the XG-SF2000 2000 Watt Inverter Generator.  Following the poor instructions we learned whe had to prime it by pumping it 50 times. That is what the instructions said to do.

And you guessed it, we flooded the engine.   OK so we removed the park plug and let it dry out then started again. Closed the choke and pulled the recoil starter some 15 times before it started and stalled again.  The choke is very sensitive and requires a LOT of adjustments during the starting process to get it working.  Finally we found the magic position and ran the generator for 10 minutes.  Turned it off and have have not really be able to get it started ever again.    OK perhaps it was just me…….   Maybe I got a lemon so I took the second one the XG-SF3000 to my partner and had him open the box and set it up.

XG-SF3000 Review

Same problem, prime it 50 times as per the instructions. Get it started and it stalled.  It has never ran again since.  This time we did all the normal checks.  Check for fuel, we had it, checked all valves open, they where.   Check for spark there was none !!   We thought perhaps being out of the engine it may just be to weak to see so we put it back in and tried starting again.  No luck.

Be warned.  The cover over the  engine is a very poor design in our opinion .  If you are not careful the spark plug will fall and land between the engine and the enclosure and require extensive disassemblly  to get it out.

 

Virtually all screws, nuts and bolts removed had to be replaced. They are of such poor quality and soft metals they ALL strip. (photos to follow)  Some stripped just trying to open the case and had to be broken off to open it up.  It gets worse.

 

(We have a lot more photos to add here and some other interesting findings. Will continue edit and update here with it later today.)

Note that the brains of the generator, the part that controls the engine speed and the output power can never be serviced. It is filled with epoxy. If you have an electrical problem, toss the generator way. You can’t service it.

At the end the problem was this ignition control board that not one single dealer, supplier or even the manufacture  has responded to any calls, emails or requests for us to PURCHASE the defective part.

 

Right now ALL the hardware that was used or disassembled has had to be replaced. ALL screws and threads are stripped.  VERY very cheap quality metals are used.  Horrible quality.   Thankfully there is a local hardware store around so most parts we could replace but still stuck with two generators that don’t work.

Remember we have 2 of these. All brand new and we are experts in generator sales and service. We even designed many of our own products we sell today.  So far we have had 100% failure rate with these.  What are the chances that you will get one that works?

After two weeks of trouble on these brand new generators we finally fixed it with no support from anyone. We feel it is a product defect and design issue.

If you have a low oil pressure condition it signals the ignition control board to send a signal to the ignition coil and disable it so you get no spark and the engine stalls. It is for safety.   BUT, the oil pressure sensor and wiring is fine. We can even disable the oil pressure sensor but the control board does not care.  It still acts like there is no oil pressure and sends a signal to the ignition coil to stop working.  We modified it and disabled it and it now works again.

To date it is a 100% failure rate with all the ones we tested. Provided you can get used to the tricky choke settings, don’t over prime and flood the engine, starting is easier now and we kind of have a working generator now.

We do not feel any customer will accept having to open it up and butcher it to make it do what it should have done right out of the box.
In closing, it is scary that no one can support it, not a single company returned any calls or e-mails and no parts availability.  The hardware is made of soft metals and easily stripped.  The enclosure is soft plastic that will never close correctly again.   Very disappointed in this product and it does not matter what company wants to put their name on it it is all the same junk.

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Thousands still without power after powerful storm in Ontario

26. April 2009 by admin.

Need a generator? Visit www.Dustpile.com

TORONTO — In addition to breaking trees and hydro poles a brief yet blustery thunderstorm that made its way across southern Ontario on Saturday also broke at least one record.

“We did have very strong wind gusts as a result of this thunderstorm line that went through,” Environment Canada meteorologist Sarah Wong said Sunday.

“At Toronto Pearson Airport we had a recorded gust of 115 kilometres per hour, and that was the strongest wind gust reported since January 1978.”

Reports of funnel clouds came in from areas such as Windsor, Ont., where the roof was ripped off a Canadian Union of Public Employees building, and from Aylmer, Que., where backup dispatchers had to be sent to deal with the close to 700 emergency calls.

Wong said the sightings are unofficial, and the agency doesn’t investigate unless there is confirmed evidence of large areas of damage.

“These were straight-line winds that caused the damage,” Wong said. “Most in the 100 kilometre per hour range.”

In Toronto a man was rushed to hospital with serious head injuries after he was struck by an 18-kilogram sign that winds sent flying through the air.

Hydro One crews worked through most of Saturday night and into Sunday morning to restore power after 44,000 customers were left in the dark.

As of late Sunday afternoon more than 10,000 customers were still without power.

“The most damage was right at the start of the storm when the storm ran through southwestern Ontario in areas like Listowel, Sarnia, and Clinton,” said Hydro One spokesman Corey Labatt.

Residents of Listowel, one hour north of Stratford, could be in the dark until as late as Tuesday evening.

“That’s sort of the worst-case scenario,” Labatt said.

In nearby Drayton, a boil-water advisory was issued for people using the municipal water system.

Officials say the system lost pressure thanks to the power outage, and warn the advisory could be in place for a few days until water tests come back.

The remainder of the province was expected to have power restored by 10 p.m. Sunday at the latest.

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About 17,000 customers were without power Monday morning after Hydro One equipment failed.

21. April 2009 by admin.

About 17,000 customers were without power Monday morning after Hydro One equipment failed.

At 5:15 a.m. roughly 11,000 Hydro Ottawa customers in the east and south of Ottawa lost power while about 6,000 Hydro One customers were affected, according to media spokespeople from both utilities.

By 6:30 a.m. Hydro Ottawa was able to restore power to 2,000 customers, Hydro Ottawa spokesperson Susan Barnett said, noting the outage was caused by a loss of supply on the provincial transmission grid.

The provincial transmission grid, she explained, provides power to utilities across the province.

Crews from both Ottawa and the provincial hydro companies have been working to fix the transformer on Hawthorne Road where the equipment broke, Hydro One spokesperson Daniele Gauvin indicated, adding the utility expects to have power restored by noon.

Barnett, meanwhile, indicated power would likely be restored in stages started at 12:30, with the hope of having everyone back online by 2 p.m.

The public and Catholic school boards had closed a number of rural schools in the morning due to the outage. The public board, however, sent students home at eight suburban schools just before 11 a.m. Buses were sent to Carson Grove Elementary School, Colonel By Secondary School, Emily Carr Middle School, Glen Ogilvie Public School, Henry Munro Middle School, Le Phare Elementary School, Norman Johnston Secondary Alternate Program, and Robert Hopkins Public School. The public board expects classes to resume as usual on Tuesday, April 21.

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Caterpillar to lay off more workers in the United States

17. March 2009 by admin.

PITTSBURGH — Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) on Tuesday announced plans to lay off more than 2,400 employees at five plants in Illinois, Indiana and Georgia as the heavy equipment maker continues to cut costs amid the global economic downturn.

Caterpillar, the world’s largest maker of mining and construction equipment, has seen its sales wither as the sluggish world economy and the credit crisis weaken demand for its products, used to build everything from houses to highways.

The company had expanded dramatically in recent years, helped by a building boom in developing countries.

In response to the worsening conditions, Caterpillar in January announced job cuts that will ultimately eliminate 20,000 positions.

It also said it would slash executive compensation by up to 50 per cent and offer buyouts to about 25,000 U.S.-based employees.

Caterpillar, which employs about 112,000 people worldwide, said it had imposed a global hiring freeze.

The cuts come after Vancouver-based Finning International Inc. (TSX:FTT), the world’s largest dealer of Caterpillar heavy construction equipment, said late last year that it was 700 people, or roughly five per cent of its workforce in Canada, the United Kingdom and South America. It also cited a slowdown in demand for equipment.

Finning does about 60 per cent of its business in Western Canada, 20 per cent in Britain and 20 per cent in South America. Mining represents 40 per cent of its revenue and oil and gas 20 per cent, with the remainder in general construction and forestry.

In its latest cuts, Peoria, Ill.-based Caterpillar said 2,365 support and management workers had been notified of layoffs expected to last at least six months - including 245 announced previously - and 89 workers will be let go permanently.

Among the affected workers are 1,726 people at plants in Illinois.

They include 911 workers at a plant in East Peoria that makes track-type tractors and pipelayers and 815 at a factory in Aurora that produces hydraulic excavators and wheel loaders. Caterpillar notified the employees Tuesday of the layoffs expected to last at least six months starting in June.

In Indiana, Caterpillar said it notified 439 employees at its large engine factory in Lafayette of layoffs effective May 29, also expected to last at least six months.

The plant makes diesel engines for boats, locomotives and other applications.

Caterpillar notified 89 employees at its Jefferson, Ga., fuel systems plant that they would be laid off permanently when the company closes the facility, expected by the end of June.

Work currently done at the plant will be shifted to factories in Thomasville, Ga., and Pontiac, Ill.

Also in Georgia, Caterpillar said it had notified 200 employees at a plant in Griffin, where the company makes generators, engines and oil service units, of layoffs scheduled to begin in May.

Meanwhile, the company has implemented so-called rolling layoffs, which vary in duration, at plants across the country and around the world, according to Jim Dugan, a Caterpillar spokesman.

Caterpillar - perhaps best known for its yellow-and-black painted backhoes, tractors and paving machines - said more layoffs may be needed as the year continues, depending on business conditions.

In January, Caterpillar said its earnings plunged 32 per cent in the last three months of 2008, and that it had lowered its 2009 profit expectations. Demand plummeted at the end of the year, pulled down by slumping commodity prices, tight credit markets and a decline in home building. It said a first-quarter loss is possible as costs may outstrip falling orders.

In February, Caterpillar said it planned to offer early retirement packages to about 2,000 production workers.

President Barack Obama, during a visit to a Caterpillar factory last month, said the company’s chief executive, Jim Owens, had promised to rehire some workers if Congress approved the president’s economic stimulus plan.

But Owens later said more cuts were likely before the company could start hiring again, and that a stimulus plan was unlikely to have an effect on the economy until late 2009 or early 2010.

The White House tried Tuesday to sound a positive note despite the news of more layoffs at Caterpillar.

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the White House was confident the stimulus bill will create opportunities for Caterpillar and other companies to grow their businesses because of the many construction projects states will be breaking ground on.

“The president believes as the money begins to get let out as a result of the Recovery and Reinvestment plan, that businesses will make different economic decisions,” Gibbs told reporters.

Shares of Caterpillar rose 41 cents to close at US$26.83 on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday.

Finning shares were up 15 cents at C$11.49 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

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Bruce Ontario reactor offline after line trips

18. February 2009 by admin.

Worried about your power supply? Visit www.CanadaGenerators.com for quality gas and diesel generators.

Feb 18 (Reuters) - Bruce Power LP’s 822-megawatt Unit 6 at the Bruce nuclear power station in Ontario went offline on Wednesday after one of Hydro One’s transmission lines tripped, Bruce Power said in a release.

In addition to taking Unit 6 offline, the line outage caused Bruce to slightly reduce the output of a couple of other reactors, the company said.

The line connects the 6,261 MW Bruce station located in Tiverton about 155 miles (250 km) northwest of Toronto to Milton, Ontario, which is about 35 miles (60 km) southwest of Toronto.

Bruce Power was continuing to run the reactor even though it is not connected to the grid, a spokesman at Bruce said.

He could not say when the reactor would be able to reattach to the grid, noting it depended on the return of the line.

Hydro One is investigating the cause of the line failure, a spokeswoman for the province owned transmission and distribution company said.

She could not say when the line would return to service.

There are four 750 MW units at Bruce: 1 to 4, at the A station, which entered service in 1977-1979, and three 822 MW units, 5 to 7, and one 795 MW unit, 8, at the B station, which entered service in 1984-1987.

All of the other operating units were available for service.

One MW powers about 1,000 homes in Ontario.

Bruce Power LP, of Tiverton, Ontario, operates the entire Bruce complex and leases the Bruce B station from Ontario Power Generation, the province-owned generating company.

Bruce Power LP is owned by uranium miner Cameco Corp (CCO.TO) (31.6 percent), energy company TransCanada Corp (TRP.TO) (31.6 percent), BPC Generation Infrastructure Trust, an investment entity owned by Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (31.6 percent), the Power Workers’ Union (4 percent) and the Society of Energy Professionals (1.2 percent).

Bruce Power A LP, which leases the Bruce A station from OPG, was set up when Bruce Power and the government agreed to restore the A station to full service. It is a partnership among TransCanada (47.4 percent), BPC (47.4 percent), the Power Workers’ Union (4 percent) and the Society of Energy Professionals (1.2 percent). (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

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Toronto - Major power outage hits downtown financial core

12. February 2009 by admin.

A hydro outage has hit the core of Toronto’s downtown financial district, affecting some of the city’s largest office towers and leaving thousands of white-collar workers without power.

Buildings affected are located on Wellington, Front, Richmond and King Streets, and include the GO Transit terminal on Front Street and First Canadian Place, which houses the Toronto Stock Exchange, Global Ontario reports. Disruptions to GO Transit service or trading have yet to be confirmed. Some of the buildings have backup emergency power generators to keep some lights on and keep people from being trapped in elevators.

According to Toronto Hydro, as many as 120,000 people could be in the dark as a result of the outage, which began at 1:30 p.m. ET. The outage was apparently caused by a “feeder trip,” or a disruption to the primary “feeder” wire that carries power to the area.

Toronto Hydro believes that power should be restored by approximately 4 p.m. ET.

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County powerless in face of ‘worst ice storm’

31. January 2009 by admin.

CARROLL COUNTY — An emergency disaster declaration was issued Thursday by President Barack Obama naming Carroll County and 47 other Arkansas counties federal disaster areas.The announcement came after an ice storm devastated most of northwest Arkansas leaving more than 200,000 homes and businesses without power.

The power outage is expected to continue into the weekend for many customers, electric officials say.

A Southwestern Electric Power Company spokesperson said its northwest Arkansas service area experienced significant outages as a result of winter weather that hit Monday — leaving an accumulation of up to one inch of ice over much of the area.

Company officials said the peak number of outages occurred Tuesday night, with nearly 59,000 customers without power. About a third of those were restored by Thursday.

“Additional resources in northwest Arkansas will reach 1,100 line and tree crew personnel,” the spokesperson said. “The current estimated time for 95 percent restoration is midnight Saturday. Falling trees are still a hazard to utility crews.”

Carroll Electric Cooperative crews and 91 contractor crews have been working hard to restore power to 56,000 of its customers who lost electrical service, including 47,000 customers who were still in the dark on Thursday.

According to James Sanders, vice president of executive services, the number of broken power poles is expected to exceed 1,000.

Although faced with a tremendous work load, he said 99 percent of the cooperative’s 160,000 poles did withstand “the worst ice storm this company has seen.”

He said restoration of three-phase feeders, the main arteries of the cooperative’s distribution system, was continuing.

“Presently, 49 feeders coming from 21 substations are still out of service, not including feeders partially out,” he reported Thursday, saying 14 of those were in the Carroll County communities of Grassy Knob, Holiday Island, Eureka Springs, Rudd, Green Forest and Cisco.

“The phones have been lit up non-stop and Carroll Electric consumers have been very understanding,” he added. “The goal is the same for consumers and the Cooperative — to get everyone’s power back on. This goal will be met, but it’s going to take time.”

Entergy Arkansas, which provides power in the cities of Berryville and Green Forest, said that as of noon Wednesday, crews were responding to 111,000 outages due to the ice storm.

Of those outages, more than 19,000 were in the Harrison area. Berryville had almost 3,000 customers without power. Separate figures were not released for Green Forest.

There were 2,415 linemen, field support personnel and tree trimmers responding to the outages, company officials said, including employees from Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, as well as numerous contractors.

They say damage is extensive, every bit as devastating in some areas as the twin ice storms of December 2000 when its transmission network in north Arkansas suffered severe damage.

Restoration work is underway, they say, including scouting the damage so that work can be planned in an efficient manner — and so the company can develop estimates as to when power will be restored to all customers. However, preliminary estimates are that it will be as long as Tuesday, Feb. 3 before all customers are restored.

Entergy Arkansas customers are reminded to stay away from downed power lines. Outages should be reported by calling 1-800-9OUTAGE.

A relatively new- and recently upgraded — online service is “View Outages.” Anyone with Internet access can go to Entergy.com, click on “View Outages” and see where outages are occurring down to the street level.

Relief efforts

Relief came in many forms for people suddenly without heat and electricity.

County Judge Sam Barr said he opened the Berryville courthouse as a shelter Tuesday night. At least 25 people stayed there, with few luxuries, but at least they had access to restrooms and they could sleep in the chairs in the courtroom.

By Wednesday night, Barr was able to locate some cots, which improved the sleeping conditions considerably. Barr credited State Sen. Randy Laverty with locating the cots, and Justice of the Peace Tom Riddle for providing a truck to go pick up the cots in eastern Arkansas.

By Thursday morning, those still remaining at the courthouse were sent to other shelters.

Several churches in the area opened their doors as emergency shelters. Some refugees stayed at the Fire Department in Berryville, and even the hospital got involved.

St. John’s Hospital

When the electricity went off at the Berryville courthouse Tuesday night, Office of Emergency Management Coordinator Candy Bawcom tried to relocate the people who had been staying there. She called the hospital and asked if they could take some of the very elderly or infirm patients.

Kristy Noble, President of St. John’s Hospital–Berryville, said when the call came from Bawcom, the hospital was ready to help, even though the hospital was operating on generators.

Power went off Monday night at the hospital, and came back on Wednesday night. A truck from Kevin Barrows Excavation delivered extra diesel fuel to keep the generators running.

Despite the circumstances, the hospital performed its mission. “I’m so proud of our staff,” Noble said. “Many of them never left.”

Even though staff members worried about their own families, homes, and pets, they put the hospital’s needs first. “They all knew we had to be there to take care of the patients,” Noble said. “There were a lot of sacrifices.”

The hospital has a disaster plan in place. “We put that plan to the test twice a year, so we knew what we had to do,” Noble said. That disaster plan even prepared the kitchen for the task of preparing meals without full power.

The Emergency Room was very busy Wednesday, because the clinic did not have power, but by Thursday, the clinic was once again seeing patients.

Noble said while the hospital was on generator power, a baby was delivered by C-section, and mother and child were both doing well. “It’s part of our disaster plan to have a functional operating room,” Noble said.

Churches as shelters

Across the county, churches welcomed people in need, whether or not they were part of that congregation.

At Freeman Heights Baptist Church in Berryville, Deacon Vern Richardson said, “It just seemed like the thing to do.” The church fed 32 people Wednesday evening, and found places for them to sleep. About half of those people were members of the congregation.

Government response

Governor Mike Beebe on Wednesday implemented a Winter Weather State of Emergency to allow state agencies to “more easily” coordinate with the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.

President Obama’s federal declaration makes available federal aid to help supplement state and local recovery efforts.

Eureka Springs

Because of the steep hills, ice and snow hit this city even harder than the rest of the county. Mayor Dani Joy said city workers were performing well under the trying circumstances, and residents of the city were displaying patience.

“This is the worst storm I’ve seen in the 21 years I’ve been here,” Joy said. The Eureka Springs courthouse was closed because there was no electricity. The police, Public Works, and Transit were on generators, and Transit was serving as a shelter.

“The transit building doesn’t hold very many people, so they’re mostly focusing on the elderly or people with very small children,” Joy said.

City workers have been on 12-hour shifts, and Joy said, “They’re doing everything they possibly can.” Further help may come from state and federal agencies.

The city council meeting scheduled for Monday, Jan. 26 was cancelled because of the incoming weather, and Joy said she may have to call a special meeting Friday to have a budget in place by the end of this month.

Joy urged the residents of the city to keep up their spirits. “Check your neighbors, and the elderly. Bundle up and take care of each other. And please be patient with the guys on the street–they’re doing everything they can.”

Green Forest

Mayor Richard Deweese said the city will have an area where residents can take debris from the storm, and he expects to have a curbside pickup of tree limbs set up quickly.

He also cautioned residents to watch for downed power lines as Entergy is energizing those lines again. “Everyone needs to be aware,” he said.

Deweese said most property damage in Green Forest is minimal, but the power lines took a serious hit. He said he drove around the city on Wednesday, stopping to visit with some residents.

Berryville

“We are making headway,” reported Mayor Tim McKinney on the city’s efforts to keep ahead of storm damage and ice packed roads.

“We are having trouble getting streets cleared because trees keep coming down,” he explained.

Those downed trees have created a huge mess, which McKinney has already addressed.

He said the city will schedule a limb and brush pickup program that will begin sometime next week utilizing chippers and other equipment.

He said they will be using three rented chippers, a purchased chipper, and a logging truck with a claw for pickup of big tree trunks — if they can be reached.

McKinney suggested residents begin dragging their limbs to the curb for the planned pickup. “Likely it will be next week before we get started,” he said.

City crews working the roadways were hampered by the solid sheet of ice that resisted efforts to break it up, he said. Spreading a mix of salt and crushed limestone helped some the first day, but continued ice accumulations were tough to keep up with.

He said city crews worked overtime, but not through the overnight hours because of the danger. “There were so many lines down, it was not safe to be out at night,” he explained.

Besides a loss of power citywide, McKinney said they also lost power at the wastewater treatment plant where a generator, which he described as “a $100,000 piece of equipment,” failed to operate.

“It was Murphy’s Law,” he quipped. “With Tyson (Foods) shut down, we called ADEQ, put chlorine in our effluent, and held all we could. Carroll Electric did a great job restoring power. They made it a priority and had three or four crews working on it.”

He said the plant was without power for 12 hours, described as a “critical time,” but because of cooperation from Tyson, which held back what it could, and Carroll Electric’s prompt response, they were able to stay in compliance.

McKinney said city police depended on a generator to keep them operating. With traffic accidents and crime at a minimum, he said police turned their attention to a “serve and protect mode,” checking on the elderly, and giving people rides to shelters.

“There is not so much criminal activity to work in weather like this,” he said. “That frees them up to help.”

He said city crews will continue their effort to clear the streets as more trees fall, “but we have to wait on the power company to move their lines in some situations,” he added.

County roads

Barr said workers from the Roads Department were putting in long hours, but they face some daunting challenges. He said in some cases, they saw limbs falling onto roads they had just cleared.

Barr said he is looking to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for additional crews to help clear fallen trees and limbs.

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More than a million without power in US following major ice storm

31. January 2009 by admin.

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Approximately 1.3 million people have been left without power following major ice storms that struck a large section of the midwestern United States this week. The storms have caused at least 27 deaths across 9 states: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio.

Kentucky was the hardest hit as more than 607,000 residents were without power at the peak of the outages Thursday, making this the worst power outage in the state’s history. President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Kentucky, as well as Arkansas, where over 350,000 are without power. Between one and two inches of ice collected on power lines and tree branches in these states causing them to snap, spreading debris across roads and cutting off power to homes and businesses.

In a letter sent by Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear, a Democrat, to Obama requesting federal assistance, the governor estimated that there would be more than $5 million in damages caused by the storm in his state. Adding to Kentucky’s difficulties in coping with the storm–and to popular suffering–is the fact the state currently faces a $456 million shortfall in its budget. Kentucky’s unemployment rate as of December has also risen to 7.8 percent, the highest in two decades.

Getting help to those in need has proven difficult under the harsh circumstances. Many charitable organizations such as God’s Pantry, which has already seen a 40 percent increase in food requests this year, and Moveable Feast in Lexington, have reported difficulty in delivering meals to clients this week because of road conditions and power outages.

Ninety-one emergency shelters have been established throughout the state, though some of these have also been forced to close due to a lack of electricity. Many small towns like Danville and Berea are suffering from severe water shortages or have run out altogether.

Destroyed utility lines have also led to interruptions in phone and Internet services, adding to difficulties in communication among citizens, rescuers and utility companies. In several cases, authorities have been forced to go door-to-door informing people where to go should they require food and shelter.

Reports in the Associated Press paint a picture of the situation facing some of those affected in Kentucky and Arkansas. The AP quotes a storm victim in Kentucky: “‘I’ve been sitting ‘round for two days, eating cold hot dogs and bologna,’ said 70-year-old John Grimes, describing what he ate at home before coming to the shelter. He uses a wheelchair, is blind in one eye, and a diabetic.”

In Arkansas: Jimmy Eason “was headed to his Ford F-150 pickup truck, which was warmer than his one-story house. ‘I’m sleeping in a car, which is just fine,’ Eason, 74, said. ‘There’s nothing wrong with a car. Every couple of hours I turn it on, I let it run for 10 minutes and that keeps it pretty warm.’”

In western Kentucky, the AP reports, “In the small town of Marion, hundreds fled to a shelter and others went back to getting water the old fashioned way–hauling it from a creek.”

Estimates regarding the time it will take to restore power to homes and businesses throughout the affected region vary from one utility company to the next, but many residents are expected to remain without power for another week; some estimates suggest power may not be restored in some areas until mid-February.

Once again a substantial layer of the population in the United States faces difficult and, in some cases, life-threatening conditions due to a combination of a natural disaster and the inability of the profit system to meet its elementary social needs.

Decades of deregulation, the short-term pursuit of earnings to satisfy shareholders, and the anarchy and waste of private ownership have left the electrical power system in shambles. A severe storm brings out the real state of affairs, to the general public’s detriment.

The maintenance of power lines and other equipment, as well as investment in new technologies to bring the system into line with increasing energy demands, have consistently been neglected in favor of reaping fast profits.

As the WSWS noted in the aftermath of the massive August 2003 blackout, which affected 50 million people: “The energy industry today consists of a patchwork of companies with different and competing interests. Even though the electrical grid on the North American continent is now split into two large sections plus Texas, the responsibility for producing, distributing and maintaining energy is shared among thousands of power companies and utilities. The New York Times reports, ‘The 6,000 or so power plants, owned by 3,000 utilities, pour power into140 regional ‘control areas,’ which communicate with one another to coordinate moving the electricity as it is bought and sold.’”

“We have fragmented and balkanized our electronic power system,” noted John Casazza, who has written a number of books critical of energy deregulation. “No one is taking a look at what is best for the grid and our nation. Instead, you have 1,000 different entities just looking out for themselves and how to make the best profit.”

The system of oversight, to the extent that it exists, is every bit as fragmented as the electrical system itself with various state, corporate and private interests left in control in different regions of the country. The result of this irrational system, when faced with a challenge such as this week’s ice storm, is a breakdown. As recovery efforts begin, the mobilization of manpower and resources needed to repair damage caused by the storm is also left in the hands of privately-owned utility companies. Progress has been slow and disorganized thus far.

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