The totally off-topic thread

[Denali]

I will never understand why governments insist on selling off essential services, especially to companies based overseas that imo are only interested in generating(!) profit, after all isn't that why a company exists?

(flame suit on!)

My problem with the sell off is eventually there will be nothing left to sell and then what? The cupboard is empty and the budgets are still in the red.

 

[Pushka]

See post above. The grid shuts down over areas not connected with a physical failure, to protect itself. The sequence to re-start using intact generating assets can be complicated and take some time - but as long as the greater grid is intact it can occur.

But again, see comment about grid balance - some intact sectors may not be able to be energised if the balance can't be restored.

And we have less options for the generating assets than previously. The non green ones are closed down or in the process.

Our wonderful TomK (aka Turbo Tom when as road safety minister he was outed as having something like 100 speeding fines) said late last year that a one in a thousand year event had caused a major power outage. Less than 9 months later....

 

[RooFlyer]

A favourite power story of mine was when I was living in Darwin, and they commissioned the new beaut gas fired power station at Channel Island, out of town#, to replace the oil fired generators on the waterfront.

OK, they commissioned the gas fired station, going well for a week, so they powered down the oil fired jobs.

I think it was a day later that there was an 'issue' in the transmission line and Channel island power station tripped itself off as a precaution. 100% power failure in Darwin and surrounds.

OK, no biggie, check the system and get the power station up and running again, right?

Ooops. A big station like that can't just turn itself on and off. It needs a 'starter' generator to get it going. Trouble is, they hadn't gotten around to installing that bit yet (originally they back-fed energy down the transmission grid from the oil fired stations that were still running).

So -can't get the power station going and the oil fired stations will take 4 days, if not more, to re-commission.

After a couple of days, they managed to get RAAF (I think) generators at the air base in Darwin fired up and connected to the grid, and they fed power down to allow the gas fired station to start.

I think it was at least 2 days Darwin was without power (fortunately many hotels and industries had heir own gen sets due to the (bat and lightning induced) frequent outages in the top-end).

# if people wonder why a gas fired station was put out of town, on the harbour (pipeline fed), the reason is that it was originally intended to be a coal fired station - so was on a 'channel' in Darwin Harbour so the coal ships could dock. Then they built the Alice Springs to Darwin pipeline, so it was built as a gas fired station.

 

[drron]

Yes it really is a battle of the vested interests in SA at the moment.This from the Clean energy council-

The Clean Energy Council, the peak body for renewable energy, said no connection had been established between clean energy and the blackout.
"The resulting power outage is obviously frustrating for everyone in the state, but it is important to note that this could have happened in any state given today's weather conditions," Clean Energy Council policy manager Tom Butler said .

But this-

By Wednesday evening, the highest gust had been recorded at Snowtown, which experienced 104km/h winds in the mid-afternoon and 26 millimetres of rain in an hour.

State in the dark: South Australia's major power outage

Well WA,NT and QLD have often been struck by little things called cyclones with sustained wind speeds twice that of this storm and gusts up to 3 times that speed.yet power outages are in areas hit by the cyclones not in distant areas.When Cyclone Yasi hit Mission beach Cairns ~ 120 km north and Townsville ~ 200 km south were relatively unscathed.Yet that had sustained wind speed of 200kph and gusts to 285 kph.It was finally downgraded to a tropical storm near Mt Isa ~ 800km west.

It seems SA's grid was not gold plated as has been suggested in the past as a reason for high electricity prices.

 

[Quickstatus]

No flame suit. The biggest mistake governments have made. They have sold the cash cows for quick cash and we get atrocious service in return.

Example is SYD.
They thought they could sell it off, Realise the $$$ and SYD would pay tax via their owners. But with aggressive gearing no tax paid.

Now no income from airport and the 5bil spent long ago

 

[vetrade]

I guess it doesn't really matter. A great legend has gone.

Yes that's true, yet you seem to keep looking for any alternative to myeloma.........
Social media and media newsrooms are notoriously unreliable and the reference you posted is a perfect example of that because the bit about a "potentially rare spread of prostate cancer to his skin" was obviously written by someone who is medically clueless.
FWIW Walker, like many many men in his age group, did have prostate cancer but, just like the melanoma he didn't have, it was not responsible for his death.

 

[whatmeworry]

Couple of pylons down in SA.

 

[RooFlyer]

I will never understand why governments insist on selling off essential services, especially to companies based overseas that imo are only interested in generating(!) profit, after all isn't that why a company exists?

(flame suit on!)

No flame suit. The biggest mistake governments have made. They have sold the cash cows for quick cash and we get atrocious service in return.

I'm not wild about the concept, but one of the reasons things like power assets have been and are sold off are:

* The government can raise a lot of cash - this goes into new infrastructure (mostly ie new hospitals) which otherwise wouldn't be built, or they would have to borrow (with interest costs) or raise taxes etc;

* Even in government hands, these industries are highly regulated, so who owns them is 'less' of an issue (but not entirely without issue, I agree);

* More to the point, much of Australia's power infrastructure is getting old and will need replacing before too long. Therefore the government, if owner, would be up for a motza if they were owner - so you'd still get borrowing or higher taxes, just to stand still. Power costs would be rising no matter who owns them (and of course renewable energy costs a lot more than the old fashioned coal etc.)

Here in Tasmania, where all the power assets are still in government hands, we are right now discovering the cost of repairing and maintaining our generating and grid infrastructure. Ouch! :shock:

Ditto water infrastructure. All those pipes are getting old and will have to be dug up and replaced!

 

[Quickstatus]

Couple of pylons down in SA.
P
View attachment 80282

Yes wind power caused the blackout

 

[Quickstatus]

I'm not wild about the concept, but one of the reasons things like power assets have been and are sold off are:

* The government can raise a lot of cash - this goes into new infrastructure (mostly ie new hospitals) which otherwise wouldn't be built, or they would have to borrow (with interest costs) or raise taxes etc;

* Even in government hands, these industries are highly regulated, so who owns them is 'less' of an issue (but not entirely without issue, I agree);

* More to the point, much of Australia's power infrastructure is getting old and will need replacing before too long. Therefore the government, if owner, would be up for a motza if they were owner - so you'd still get borrowing or higher taxes, just to stand still. Power costs would be rising no matter who owns them (and of course renewable energy costs a lot more than the old fashioned coal etc.)

Here in Tasmania, where all the power assets are still in government hands, we are right now discovering the cost of repairing and maintaining our generating and grid infrastructure. Ouch! :shock:

Ditto water infrastructure. All those pipes are getting old and will have to be dug up and replaced!

For years governments of all persuasions have extracted "efficiency" dividends from these utilities thus kicking the can down the road. The money that would have been used to maintain, repair and renew assets were "seized" to prop up non income producing activities.

interest rates are at an all time low and governments can borrow at these rates. But governments know that they are very poor at efficiently building anything. NBN is an example - started as a Rudd thought bubble. School halls, pink batts...

Locally the NSW state government sold off the airspace over St Leonards station to a developer in return for a brand new station under residential towers. Developed made a motza - much more than the cost of a new station. The government could have built it and kept the profits but they would have botched it, nor do they have the expertise.

Only recently have governments been a little smarter- the Barangaroo development condition involves Packer guaranteeing tax payment to the state of a certain quantum. So he can't hide it behind aggressive gearing etc

 

[Pushka]

Yes it really is a battle of the vested interests in SA at the moment.This from the Clean energy council-


But this-

State in the dark: South Australia's major power outage

Well WA,NT and QLD have often been struck by little things called cyclones with sustained wind speeds twice that of this storm and gusts up to 3 times that speed.yet power outages are in areas hit by the cyclones not in distant areas.When Cyclone Yasi hit Mission beach Cairns ~ 120 km north and Townsville ~ 200 km south were relatively unscathed.Yet that had sustained wind speed of 200kph and gusts to 285 kph.It was finally downgraded to a tropical storm near Mt Isa ~ 800km west.

It seems SA's grid was not gold plated as has been suggested in the past as a reason for high electricity prices.

We were saying exactly the same last night about Queensland and cyclones. Never has the whole state been blacked out.

Only the pollies say our system is bullet proof. But cant wait until Wetherill makes the announcement that on 28 Sept South Australia was carbon neutral

We are told that the high cost of our power is for maintenance and improvements. I guess they mean the cost of repair, not maintenance.

 

[Pushka]

Yes that's true, yet you seem to keep looking for any alternative to myeloma.........
Social media and media newsrooms are notoriously unreliable and the reference you posted is a perfect example of that because the bit about a "potentially rare spread of prostate cancer to his skin" was obviously written by someone who is medically clueless.
FWIW Walker, like many many men in his age group, did have prostate cancer but, just like the melanoma he didn't have, it was not responsible for his death.

Yes - understand at autopsies that prostate cancer is often found.

My 'thing' with the myeloma? I just cant find any media site referencing it as the cause? So insider knowledge maybe?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Re: Rumour:[Denied by RR] Qantas to ban JQ SYD-MEL pax from F lounges & send to J lou

Can't find citizenship certificate. Yes lost something again.

Hope it doesn't delay citizenship by descent for daughter or tourist visa application for wife.

just out of interest, why not a proper spouse visa? given her ties to you and the baby, I'm concerned immigration may think Mrs JohnK might intend to outstay her visa and deny entry? or is that not an issue?

 

[vetrade]

Yes - understand at autopsies that prostate cancer is often found.

My 'thing' with the myeloma? I just cant find any media site referencing it as the cause? So insider knowledge maybe? 樂

AMA President ‏@amapresident 19h19 hours ago
AMA President Retweeted Chris Reason
Vale MaxWalker. Multiple Myeloma a #Cancer of white blood cells sadly not amenable to #prevention beyond being more prevalent in obese.
AMA President added,
Chris Reason @ChrisReason7
Max Walker's family has corrected the record on his cause of death - not melanoma but multiple myeloma

 

[Pushka]

Well, not a Like vetrade but thanks for the info. Clearly as you say, not something the media is so interested in.

 

[Pushka]

The house seems to have survived yesterdays rain so hope the same for today. Fridge contents thrown out but MasterP and his Cat are good. Power out for 15 hours. Winds no stronger so far than a strong gully breeze (that rip through in summer).

 

[suze2000]

I'd have thought if you could resist opening the fridge/freezer, most of the stuff in there would be okay. They are very well insulated.

 

[whatmeworry]

And buy ice for the Freezers. Should last 3-4 days in a turned off freezer.

 

[Denali]

I remember about 10yrs ago Sydney got hit by hail storms and my inlaws house was without power for 3 days.

Parents in laws where in their 80s back then and father in law is a insulin dependent diabetic. It wasnt until I told the lady on the phone about their situation did their house get bumped to the top of the repair list and they had power that afternoon. Mother in law didnt want to make a fuss.

 

[Pushka]

I'd have thought if you could resist opening the fridge/freezer, most of the stuff in there would be okay. They are very well insulated.

Freezer is fine. I dont take risks with food in the fridge because when power returns early am you cannot tell how warm it got before getting cold again. Especially raw meats, milk and cheeses. Food expert on radio just said exactly this: 4 hours @ 5c is fine. When power off for 12+ hours its impossible to know.