via cell phone. They claim we will get text updates, but I've never gotten one. Some of our neighborhood has power, and other have not had power since Irma.

School has started back, but many families report no power.

Hard to believe the Duke announcements at this point.

Utilities in Connecticut, Mass, RI, and NY were savaged by their customers after Irene in 2011. NYC had sustained practically no damage, but outer Long Island, Southeastern Connecticut, and Rhode Island took a lot of damage. We kept having to re-report that our power was out because there were so many breaks in the lines.

In the end (after another long outage from a freak Snow storm in October that brought down many branches with leaves still on them), Connecticut Light & Power sacked their leadership and went on an extensive effort to trim up the trees all around the lines.



Part of the Issue in Connecticut is the high exposure of power lines to trees. People often think of Connecticut as a large urban mass, but it actually has large exurban/rural tracts with small towns. the picture below shows the typical view I have driving to work, with trees covering the road and the power lines well below the tree tops.

Their executives are allowing the release of knowingly dishonest reports. Local PD's are even posting Dukes new phone number online and telling people to keep calling. It has gotten that bad. Dukes computer system has now kicked out all people who don't have power two times.

Unless you have an internet connected smart meter, the utility doesn't know if you have power back or not. Their numbers are based on estimates of the number of customers on a circuit - If they fix the circuit break they assume that everyone got power back, but there may be additional breaks. This is one of the reasons it's important for everyone to report their outage and keep following up. I would see a town go from 80% out to 20%, then within a half hour back to 50% after Irene because CL&P made that assumption on their outage map. One thing the CL&P then did up here for the Oct Snow outage was spend a lot of time driving around inspecting the lines to prevent that, which people saw and interpreted as "fucking off" and they got really enraged. (it being cold didn't help one bit)

I understand the frustration - I've spent a week without power, both in summer and fall, and a few days in winter. It's miserable.

Stating that you have restored one hundred percent of people out from the storm is incompetent and blatantly dishonest.

"Unless you have an internet connected smart meter, the utility doesn't know if you have power back or not."

Or they could just go to their own facebook page. Or their call center. Or to any of the three major news outlets.

You have to be kidding with that line.

And I learned to not attribute to malice what is better explained as incompetence.

Seminole County (Un-Incorporated section of Winter Park, basically Cassleberry), and sadly a Duke Energy customer. They suck.

Anyway during the aftermath of Irma I was listening to the so called news station, which is really a right-wing propaganda station that forces Hannity and those nutters that assault our common sense on the radio. After the storm they accidental loose their crazy brains and act like humans, at least while their local nutters are without power like the normal folks. Anyway they take calls, people share where ice, gas, water are, they let you vent.

Of course power companies are the top of the list about venting. So they let talking heads from these companies to come on and clear up public misconception. Like the one open mike vent about "It's the rich people that get they power back first," comments.

The chick from Duke Energy had us picturing the grid like a tree, and this shit about trunks, branches and leaves. Now how could the grid passably be bias, it doesn't know who is who, etc, etc and on for ever crap.

They think that gets them off the hook. Bull shit! Three things.


1- While the grid might not be bias, the people that set it up more then likely were. Who determines what part of the tree you get? And I am sure these folks had preferences and they could also be bribed.

2- Duke Energy had since 2004 to fix many issues in my area when Charlie came barreling through. They did nothing! Same shit every time a storm hits here and it does not need to be a cat 4 cane. My area is the first to loose power and the last to get it back because we are a leaf.

3- We, the country, are in dire need of an intro-structure upgrade! But rethugs didn't want no black man getting credit for this awesome thing.

Fuck that! I don't want to be a leaf no more. Fuck Duke, we are going solar no matter the cost. I am done with this crap!

Winter Park reported in the Orlando Sentinel that they had very few homes losing power during Irma. They credit that with the effort they have made since 2004 to put utilities underground in the area west of SR 436.

I truly believe that Duke should invest in that same effort everywhere they serve power.

Here in Eustis we finally got power back yesterday when everyone else around us had their power restored 3 days prior. The only reason our power was restored was because a neighbor flagged down a Duke Energy guy who was parked in a field off SR 44, otherwise we probably would still not have power.

Many of the areas hit hard by Charlie were told there would be some upgrades. Most are still sitting there today with the same transformers. Truly the same ones. And they had already been there for a long time before that.

The transformer supplying my last house ended up being replaced after it went bad(literally corroded through). My electronics went through a whole day of low draw while I was at work. Really ticked me off.

which sounds like 100% but it isn't