When the Lights Went Out in San Diego

Power returned to Southern California somewhere around 3:30 this morning. It wasn't without the reign of confusion for more than 1.4 million folks left to the anxieties of powerlessness for twelve mostly nighttime hours.

Massive outage

Power went out yesterday at 3:38 p.m. leaving San Diegans to suffer the oppressive 80-degree heat. (I'd get an argument on 'oppressive' for 80 degrees from New Yorkers.) Computers went down, leaving no analog landline homesteads with communications or information exchange. People went out to the streets for news. Cell phone service eventually collapsed too, relegating what communications there were to mono-alphanumeric texting, a la "I c u @ 8."

Streets were clogged in San Diego with electricity out. No offense, but it was a Mexican standoff at intersections normally controlled by good old American traffic lights. Freeways carried cars with the mobility of a parking lot. Aerial photos of the vehicular congestion showed the few white dots in the night where licensed (read: fully fee-paid) generators were operating.

Such outages extended from Yuma, Arizona, to California's San Diego, Orange, and Riverside Counties. So San Diego wasn't exactly alone in the darkness last night.

Never California's fault
The cause still isn't known with certainty, but certainly the state would point eastward to Arizona. The renegade libertarian state provides power to ones like California that can't or won't produce power of their own.

It is believed that an employee at Arizona's North Gila transmission station tripped a line that sent blackouts cascading first to Yuma. I've been to Yuma, and for as sunny and hot as it is there (I can use the word 'oppressive' with conviction for Yuma's heat), there isn't a solar panel to be found in the city. But I digress.

Power transmission started stopping there, sending outages rolling out to California's Imperial Valley and on to San Diego. But before the power returned, postulated causes included everything from terrorist attacks to California's breathing out too much of their hot, carbon-containing air.

They still aren't sure what caused the failure. And it will take several weeks for the official report, which is sure to show that something in that blasted furnace of a state caused a lot of unnecessary suffering in California.

SDG&E
In an email to customers at the start of the outage, San Diego Gas and Electric Company (SDG&E) notified all who might be wondering what happened. One wonders how customers were supposed to read the electronic note, or what bright light yet glowed in the company to inform customers by this method.

As a folllow-up this morning, SDG&E thanked all users for their conservation during the crisis, as if they had a choice! Conservation is the key to the future, the company continued. Continued dependence on other providers grows every day, further enuring California's restrictive culture even more to "not in my backyard" for power production.

Say goodbye
Well, welcome to California where electricity on demand is a thing of the past. At the very least, a convenience that cannot be counted upon for consistent delivery. The Golden State prefers the importation of electrons produced elsewhere, right along with "green" sources, rather than reliable ones, for its power.

Goodness knows California uses enough of it, but doesn't do well when the lights go out. Go figure! Because I can't.

Sources:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/09/blackout-san-diego-arizona.html
http://imperialbeach.patch.com/articles/power-is-back-but-sdge-asks-residents-to-conserve