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| Europe |
| Power cuts strike western Europe |
| 2006-11-05 |
| Power cuts have struck several countries in western Europe, leaving millions of people without electricity. Power companies said the outage started in Germany with a surge in demand prompted by cold weather, and then spread to other parts of Europe. Some five million people in France lost power, mainly in the east of the country and including parts of Paris. "We weren't very far from a European blackout," a senior director with French power company RTE said. Pierre Bornard told the French news agency AFP that two German high-voltage transmission lines failed, causing problems across western Europe. This triggered a "house of cards" style system breakdown, he said. Automatic security systems cut supplies to some customers to avoid a complete blackout. Italy, Belgium and Spain were also affected by the power cuts. Most electricity supplies were restored within two hours of the outage, and so far no injuries or accidents have been reported. Fire brigades in France said they had to answer several calls from people stuck in lifts. High speed rail links were also disrupted. Well, it's one way to help meet those Kyoto targets. |
| Posted by:phil_b |
| #20 The power outages in Buffalo, NY a few weeks ago (that would be in Western NY, on Lake Erie near the Niagara Falls) were due to an unexpected and heavy snowfall breaking all the trees, the limbs of which brought down the power lines. The power plant continued supplying energy, such that my darling in-laws (in Lackawanna, southwest of the city) had their lights turn back on after only a few hours; my parents, however, in the hardest hit suburb of Amherst, were without power for an entire week. The authorities are still removing downed tree limbs, and plan to dump the debris at the closed Bethleham Steel plant, which apparently will produce enough wood chips to fill the football stadium. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-11-05 17:48 |
| #19 More proof that we're losing the war in Iraq, where unreliable power is invariably cited as proof of insurgent strength. Oh, Europe. Maybe the insurgents are branching out. See, I told you so. /channeling moonbats |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2006-11-05 16:34 |
| #18 Now the blackouts in California were self inflicted due to stupidity. Idiotic power purchasing policy had something to do with it, getting raped by predatory suppliers *cough* Enron-Duke-Dynegy *cough* who handily conspired to take critical generation sites offline during peak demand cycles in order to drive up prices also had something to do with it. People died because of their greed. Newly discovered tapes have revealed how the energy corporation Enron shut down at least one power plant on false pretences, deliberately aggravating California's crippling 2001 blackouts with the aim of raising prices. 'Nuff said. Look in a back issue of the Industrial Physicist mag for the full analysis. A delightful little tech rag; It ran a superb debunking of the Powerline - Childhood Lukemia theory. I really must renew my subscription. One of the better free science publications there is. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-11-05 14:48 |
| #17 The 2003 blackout was also related to negligent transmission line maintenance in Ohio. I don't have access to the Industrial Physicist mag. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2006-11-05 14:03 |
| #16 The last big east coast blackout was caused by the shady way the energy brokers were stressing the transmission lines to keep competition's power off the grid. There should have been criminal charges. Look in a back issue of the Industrial Physicist mag for the full analysis. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-11-05 11:58 |
| #15 What happens when the real cold kicks inn. Russians control the gas flow to Europe. Brrrrr |
| Posted by: Angutch Snaiper6582 2006-11-05 11:28 |
| #14 Power companies said the outage started in Germany with a surge in demand prompted by cold weather, and then spread to other parts of Europe. Funny...no one in the "global warming is our doom" community has tried to spin this fact in their favor. Oops...excuse me "climate change is our doom". |
| Posted by: WTF 2006-11-05 09:23 |
| #13 But Mizzou, the problem in St Louis was due to weather damaging the system and not due to over loading it. I also was under the impression that the incident on the east coast was due to equipment failure instead of supply issues. Now the blackouts in California were self inflicted due to stupidity. |
| Posted by: RJB in JC MO 2006-11-05 09:22 |
| #12 I'm sure Germany' policy of cutting back on their nuclear power plants to replace them with windmills and all will help improve the system' sustainability... |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2006-11-05 07:59 |
| #11 Oh, I forgot, you don't HAVE those stores. Nope, those are predatory nasty American imperialist chains. And in any case, it's the GOVERNMENT's responsibility to make sure they have power. Been that way since the days of feudal manor lords and we see no reason to change it now. |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-11-05 07:58 |
| #10 Uhh, it's fun, but glass houses, gentlemen. It wasn't just a few months ago that an area the size of Missouri, centered on St. Louis, was without power for about a week because of storms. You probably didn't hear about it, because it wasn't NY. |
| Posted by: Mizzou Mafia 2006-11-05 07:49 |
| #9 Home Depot's and Lowe's have got generators, guys. Oh, I forgot, you don't HAVE those stores. |
| Posted by: Perfesser 2006-11-05 06:42 |
| #8 Kyoto is a big farce. Hey Europe, how are those thousands of years of history treating you? You would think you would know how to keep the lights on. And to think, those idiots wanted that treaty here. |
| Posted by: closedanger@hotmail.com 2006-11-05 06:36 |
| #7 Postindustrial society at its best. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-11-05 05:01 |
| #6 Electricity distribution systems are demand driven. Fail to keep up with demand and the system crashes. What the eco-dimwhits don't grasp is that you can't increase the wind or sunshine on demand. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2006-11-05 04:25 |
| #5 This triggered a "house of cards" style system breakdown, he said. Grid or government? |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-11-05 04:07 |
| #4 Mebbe. Worked in the N.E. US when they had their blackouts. |
| Posted by: .com 2006-11-05 03:29 |
| #3 .com, ya'think so? I wouldn't bet on that. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2006-11-05 02:59 |
| #2 Might help that declining birthrate with a leetle spike... |
| Posted by: .com 2006-11-05 02:46 |
| #1 From a 70s bumper sticker seen in Oklahoma: Freeze a Euro: Buy a gas guzzler! |
| Posted by: badanov 2006-11-05 02:43 |