[Jerrek]

i have stated in the post you quoted why its is designed badly

No you have not. You have called up one occurance and then jumped to the conclusion it is designed badly. An example is not sufficient. I'm asking for you to support your position with facts. Tell me WHAT it is that is that is so badly designed. And then I asked for examples of HOW it should be done.

as for comparisons i can make in the uk we have local systems that go down but only affect certain areas i have had experiance of that and our lines are fine but we also need to look at our own systems and make sure it does not happen here

That is not a good example. There are many times when the local system goes down and only affects that area. In fact, 99.9% of the time that is exactly what happens. So your point is moot.

In the meantime, I'm still waiting for arguments supporting your position on how "the US system is one of the worst designed." Not examples, but facts. You made a very blatant statement and I sure hope you can back it up with more than just one example.

Due to recent events a weakness in the US power grid has shown up.
Due to differences in operation there are major steps taken within the UK to prevent such a crisis happening.

Therefor it is fair to conclude the US system currently operates on a flawed design.

One example is NOT SUFFICIENT to make such a statement. You guys keep making statements but when I ask for proof and arguments you roll over and play dead. Please elaborate on these " differences in operation" and explain it in more detail.

i don't think any one is doing any more than reacting to stories like this

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3153237.stm

- a classic case of 20/20 hindsight in my opinion - so please don't be offended, as this kind of report has been all we have had to go on.

Exactly. They read something in the newspaper and then assume they are an expert in that area. Yes, the guy did say "third-world energy grid." Do you know why? So that people will wake up and invest in utility companies. But stop for a minute and think about it... Is that really true?

I was born in a third world country, grew up in one, and I immigrated out of these. My family and I are refugees. And from first hand experience I *can* tell you it is *not* true. How many outages of this kind have you seen? How many outages in the first place? We've all had the occasional 5-minute blackout, but I just don't see how that can compare to third-world countries where you actually need surge protectors because the power is so damn unstable.

In 1996 I lived in Malaysia (no I was not born there, but I lived there--my parents traveled a lot and I've lived in a number of countries) and the entire *national* grid tripped for more than 12 hours. Did you hear about it on the news? Probably not. Is it a third world country? Yes. Was it an exception to the rule? Yes.

Accidents happen. There isn't too much you can do about it. Making a statement "the US system is one of the worst designed" without bringing arguments and facts to the table is just stupid and yes, I am annoyed by it. The vast majority of people have no idea what they are talking about, and my dad who is an electrical engineer does know what he is talking about and I can tell you one thing: There is a VAST difference between the grid in North America and the grid in some third-world country.

So unless you are going to bring facts and arguments to the table to support such a position, and this DOES require a bit of knowledge about the electical grid systems, SHUT UP. Reading one article in BBC does NOT make you an expert.



As for what I did... I went home at 4:30pm, then went to a friend's, and we played RISK at candle light. I went home again at 11pm and the lights came back on shortly after that. I went to bed and the next day I didn't have to work... I worked in the basement installing the ceiling and thats basically it. Nothing major. Internet was crappy until later that day.