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California issues first rolling blackouts since 2001

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Re: California issues first rolling blackouts since 2001

#111

Post by rtx »

heavyset_go wrote: post #22
refurb wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's just your human brain succumbing to its recency bias. As someone who has been around for way too many decades, it was like this in the 70's, 80's, 90's, 00's. And corruption is way down from say the early 1900's (don't even talk about the 1800's where it was odd for a politician to not be corrupt). And your "save the world from fascism" happened at the same time most of the US was segregated.

And inequality is up since the 70's, as are housing, health care and cost of living expenses, while wages have remained stagnant for nearly 50 years.

Inequality is a fake parameter. Economy is not a zero sum game.

Re: California issues first rolling blackouts since 2001

#112

Post by Yetanfou »

perfunctory wrote: post #108

This is only going to get worse. Better get used to it. Also, go fix the climate crisis.

Build some nuclear power stations and you'll fix both. While you're at it build a breeder reactor and feed it with stored nuclear waste to both produce new fuel for other stations and reduce the amount of radioactive waste which needs to be stored as well as the period for which it needs to be stored.

Re: California issues first rolling blackouts since 2001

#113

Post by LeoPanthera »

apsec112 wrote: post #88
fanf2 wrote: post #81

Don't last year's blackouts count? https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/23/pge-rebuked-over-imposing-bl...

Those were for fire safety, not because of excess load on the electrical grid.

They were also exclusive to PG&E, and not statewide.

Re: California issues first rolling blackouts since 2001

#114

Post by nemo44x »

api wrote: post #90
heavyset_go wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet 78% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck[1], and 40% don't have the money to cover a $400 emergency expense[2]. For our riches, we have the highest population of people without health insurance in the first world, and the number one cause of bankruptcy in the US is medical expenses. Inequality drives cost of living up. Normal people in the US are competing with the richest people domestically and inte…

From what I have both seen and read, housing costs are the #1 cause of this. They have exploded in the last 25 years. The thing that blows my mind is that the COVID recession shows no sign of slowing down house price growth, though it has tempered rents in expensive markets. If housing still rises even now, something is totally insane.

Interest rates have crumbled over that same period. As interest rates go down, housing prices go up. The problem becomes the down payment goes up making it difficult for a lot of people to get the initial equity.

People often forget that mortgages are essentially bonds. When you get a mortgage you are essentially selling the bond. As interest rates fall the bond gets more expensive which means the price of homes rises since servicing the bond gets less expensive in terms of interest. But the principal goes up which means you’re building equity more quickly. So this is good - if you can get to the down payment part.

And interest rates can still get lower. However there are large parts of the country where homes are relatively inexpensive. But they’re cheap for a reason - not many people want to live there.

Re: California issues first rolling blackouts since 2001

#115

Post by edge17 »

chaostheory wrote: post #103
edge17 wrote: post #28

Strange reporting that people were "believed" to have been blacked out. We lost power yesterday in Sunnyvale from 5-9pm. Very interested in more info on the "hundreds of thousands" because it seems like the cuts were fairly limited. There was enough power to keep the fridge running but thats about it.

Lost power in the north peninsula from 9pm-12am. A warning would have been nice. We signed up for notifications via text, and we didn’t receive any.

Yup, same. No warning. I left the house in my AC car and went out for ice cream

Re: California issues first rolling blackouts since 2001

#116

Post by floren »

heavyset_go wrote: post #58
ed25519FUUU wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Healthcare costs are up, but you don’t have to worry about dying from a scraped knee. This is by far the greatest era to be alive. Anyone telling you otherwise is selling you something.

> Healthcare costs are up, but you don’t have to worry about dying from a scraped knee. As an American, you just need to worry about dying from incredibly common and treatable diseases like cancer, heart disease or diabetes due to lack of treatment. If you show up to an emergency room without insurance or ability to pay and expect chemo or a supply of insulin or blood pressure medication, you're out of luck. My grand…

> My grandfather who fought in foxholes in South Pacific jungles didn't have to worry about dying from a scraped knee, either.

I mean he literally had to worry about dying of gangrene from a scraped knee in the tropics, but I get your drift.

Re: California issues first rolling blackouts since 2001

#117

Post by perfunctory »

Yetanfou wrote: post #112
perfunctory wrote: post #108

This is only going to get worse. Better get used to it. Also, go fix the climate crisis.

Build some nuclear power stations and you'll fix both. While you're at it build a breeder reactor and feed it with stored nuclear waste to both produce new fuel for other stations and reduce the amount of radioactive waste which needs to be stored as well as the period for which it needs to be stored.

I am building a breeder reactor in my backyard right now.

Re: California issues first rolling blackouts since 2001

#118

Post by dexen »

clarkmoody wrote: post #96
heavyset_go wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And inequality is up since the 70's, as are housing, health care and cost of living expenses, while wages have remained stagnant for nearly 50 years.

WTF happened in 1971? https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/

A sharp change in labor supply https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chart_of_foreign_born_in_...

due to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_and_Nationality_Ac...

Re: California issues first rolling blackouts since 2001

#119

Post by jeffbee »

malchow wrote: post #106

The grid is slowly being decentralized using grid-agnostic solar and storage. (I.e., solar power that stays going even when the grid drops off.) A computer network -- not a large infrastructure project -- is likely to be the solution.

Almost nobody has solar power that can serve through a grid outage, so emphasis on "slowly".

Re: California issues first rolling blackouts since 2001

#120

Post by nradov »

Negitivefrags wrote: post #71
edge17 wrote: post #29

Where is all the load coming from? Aren't most of the office building (in the Bay Area) empty rightnow due to Covid?

I wonder if the climate control units in office buildings have even been switched off when not in use. I know that nobody turned off the one in our office when we were away from it for 6 weeks during the NZ lockdown. It’s not remotely managed and we are not allowed to touch it so someone from the company that owns the building would have had to go and do that, and then come back later to turn it on again. And maybe s…

Most office climate control systems are still running, although perhaps at a reduced setting. Shutting them off could cause mold growth and equipment damage.
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