Power cut rants

[maharetr]

I just logged into the discussion board for one of my Grad Dip units where there was a lot of angst over the recent power cuts. (The bulk of the students taking this course are external, and rely on computers to study, I get that and I sympathise). But my tutor writes the following (paraphrased) comment: "It makes me wonder if these power cuts had happened four weeks ago if the government would have been re-elected."

It's Not A Good Idea to rant at tutors over message boards about non-unit-related topics. So:

ARRGH! What? You mean the govnernment can be blamed for making it rain!?. It wasn't the government's fault, wasn't Western Power's fault. Rain on powerlines that haven't been rained on for months and months (aka they're dusty) means you get pole top fires. Some lovely LJ person also mentioned this
-- above ground power in Perth means you get pole fires.

::is calm now, and can face said tutor with a smile on her face tomorrow morning. Really::
There you go. The power of LJ :D

Comments

[special-trille.livejournal.com]

Ah, and the voters are such clever, rational folk. Not a knee-jerk angry mob at all...

I suspect loads of people would hold the government responsible for the blackouts, especially if they happened on election day.

Energy

[emma-in-oz.livejournal.com]

I suspect that the power issue would be a major election thing. It's not one I would personally blame entirely on the encumbent Government but I do see it as an issue within Government control.

1, It was not an act of God. It is entirely predictable, given Perth's weather that we will get outages following the first rain on dusty poletops.
2, This can be prevented through maintenance.
3, Since the late 1980s Governments have successively cut down on maintenance.
4, The emphasis on economic rationalism means that even Labor Governments are scared of budgeting for essentials like this.

Also:

1, Power outages can also be prevented by putting the power lines underground.
2, This involves massive capital investment which is not likely to take place in a partially privatised company where the first duty is to the stockholders.
3, *However* power lines have been put underground in all the leafier suburbs.

Thus, from my pov, the power outages could be prevented if the Governments (since the 1980s) had actually thought that maintaining power was important. The whole issue enrages me.