Powerless: Conservative Failure Returns Us to the Dark Ages

[Quantum Windbag]

The headline of this was so funny I laughed before I read the first word of this idiot's blog. Good thing I did, because reading the blog made me sad.

First thing you have to understand is that this guy is busy complaining about how Maryland was convinced to deregulate electricity and allow competition. This deregulation, which didn't actually happen, resulted in a power utility that is taking longer to restore power that the companies in Virginia that were faced with the same storm and the same power outages.

He sums it up thusly.

So, to recap, we have have a government-subsidized, untaxed, virtually unregulated, corporate monopoly (rather than a city utility) that has no real incentive to reduce outages or downtime, because (a) there's nowhere else for its customers to go for electricity, and (b) they get paid whether they're supplying us with power or not.
I guess that's business friendly regulation for ya.
Don't get me wrong. We've prepared for these things as best we can. That means stocking up on batteries, flashlights, and candles. I've even got two chargers for my phone if the lights go out: one that uses regular batteries, and one hand-crank charger. We even got a hand-crank radio, for weather updates.

Powerless: Conservative Failure Returns Us to the Dark Ages | OurFuture.org

Amazing, the deregulation that would have eliminated the monopoly, and did not happen, is responsible for the monopoly that he hates, so he wants to have more regulations in order to make sure the monopoly gets stronger. Then he has the gall to write this.

Would that we had utilities that were more focused on service than the bottom line. But that would mean having something other than corporate run utilities.

Gotta love progressive logic.

 

[Oddball]

The kicker is that nitwits like him are being taken at face value.

a-amz-ing.

 

[Old Rocks]

Hmmm...... Having lived in many in Oregon and Washington state, I have experianced both PUDs and privately owned power companies. The PUDs on the whole delivered power at a cheaper rate, and were more custumer oriented. That has been my experiance, limited to two states.

 

[Skull Pilot]

I don't trust any utility to provide me with reliable power that's why I have one of these

Generac Power Systems - Guardian Series 25 kW Generator

 

[Douger]

I don't trust any utility to provide me with reliable power that's why I have one of these

Generac Power Systems - Guardian Series 25 kW Generator

Useless if there is a hurricane or earthquake.
Go diesel with 235 gallons under ground ( 15 days)
DIESEL GENERATOR SALES | TRANSFER SWITCH | VOLTAGE REGULATORS

 

[Skull Pilot]

I don't trust any utility to provide me with reliable power that's why I have one of these

Generac Power Systems - Guardian Series 25 kW Generator

Useless if there is a hurricane or earthquake.
Go diesel with 235 gallons under ground ( 15 days)
DIESEL GENERATOR SALES | TRANSFER SWITCH | VOLTAGE REGULATORS

I have a 500 gal propane tank buried in my yard. That's good for about 10 days more if I put less of a load on the generator

Local zoning doesn't allow for buried diesel tanks. And I don't live in an earthquake zone and it is not useless in a hurricane I don't know how you came up with that one.

 

[Katzndogz]

obama said that he was going to close down the power companies. This is what it looks like when he tinkers with the grid.

 

[rdean]

Why do right wingers believe "deregulation" means better? Are they that indoctrinated against common sense?

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Why do right wingers believe "deregulation" means better? Are they that indoctrinated against common sense?

What part of "it did not get deregulated" didn't you get? Maryland has the Government running Utilities as I understand it. Not private Companies.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Why do right wingers believe "deregulation" means better? Are they that indoctrinated against common sense?

Perhaps you missed my point. The guy was complaining about how deregulation made things worse, and missed the point that deregulation did not happen. That means that, whatever caused the problem he is having getting his power back, it was not deregulation.

 

[Liability]

Why do right wingers believe "deregulation" means better? Are they that indoctrinated against common sense?

Maybe it has something to do with the tendency of liberals to love "regulation" regardless of how out of touch the fucking bureaucrats are. Maybe we object to strangulation via red tape.

Why do you fucking moron libs imagine that "regulation" means "better?"

Are all of you that indoctrinated against common sense and reality?

 

[CrusaderFrank]

The headline of this was so funny I laughed before I read the first word of this idiot's blog. Good thing I did, because reading the blog made me sad.

First thing you have to understand is that this guy is busy complaining about how Maryland was convinced to deregulate electricity and allow competition. This deregulation, which didn't actually happen, resulted in a power utility that is taking longer to restore power that the companies in Virginia that were faced with the same storm and the same power outages.

He sums it up thusly.

So, to recap, we have have a government-subsidized, untaxed, virtually unregulated, corporate monopoly (rather than a city utility) that has no real incentive to reduce outages or downtime, because (a) there's nowhere else for its customers to go for electricity, and (b) they get paid whether they're supplying us with power or not.
I guess that's business friendly regulation for ya.
Don't get me wrong. We've prepared for these things as best we can. That means stocking up on batteries, flashlights, and candles. I've even got two chargers for my phone if the lights go out: one that uses regular batteries, and one hand-crank charger. We even got a hand-crank radio, for weather updates.

Powerless: Conservative Failure Returns Us to the Dark Ages | OurFuture.org

Amazing, the deregulation that would have eliminated the monopoly, and did not happen, is responsible for the monopoly that he hates, so he wants to have more regulations in order to make sure the monopoly gets stronger. Then he has the gall to write this.

Would that we had utilities that were more focused on service than the bottom line. But that would mean having something other than corporate run utilities.

Gotta love progressive logic.

Rdean has a blog? Go figure

 

[Big Fitz]

Never let a good disaster go to waste, even if you have to lie your ass off to make it fit the agenda.

 

[Two Thumbs]

The headline of this was so funny I laughed before I read the first word of this idiot's blog. Good thing I did, because reading the blog made me sad.

First thing you have to understand is that this guy is busy complaining about how Maryland was convinced to deregulate electricity and allow competition. This deregulation, which didn't actually happen, resulted in a power utility that is taking longer to restore power that the companies in Virginia that were faced with the same storm and the same power outages.

He sums it up thusly.

So, to recap, we have have a government-subsidized, untaxed, virtually unregulated, corporate monopoly (rather than a city utility) that has no real incentive to reduce outages or downtime, because (a) there's nowhere else for its customers to go for electricity, and (b) they get paid whether they're supplying us with power or not.
I guess that's business friendly regulation for ya.
Don't get me wrong. We've prepared for these things as best we can. That means stocking up on batteries, flashlights, and candles. I've even got two chargers for my phone if the lights go out: one that uses regular batteries, and one hand-crank charger. We even got a hand-crank radio, for weather updates.

Powerless: Conservative Failure Returns Us to the Dark Ages | OurFuture.org

Amazing, the deregulation that would have eliminated the monopoly, and did not happen, is responsible for the monopoly that he hates, so he wants to have more regulations in order to make sure the monopoly gets stronger. Then he has the gall to write this.

Would that we had utilities that were more focused on service than the bottom line. But that would mean having something other than corporate run utilities.

Gotta love progressive logic.

That's some epic dumb right there.

 

[PredFan]

The headline of this was so funny I laughed before I read the first word of this idiot's blog. Good thing I did, because reading the blog made me sad.

First thing you have to understand is that this guy is busy complaining about how Maryland was convinced to deregulate electricity and allow competition. This deregulation, which didn't actually happen, resulted in a power utility that is taking longer to restore power that the companies in Virginia that were faced with the same storm and the same power outages.

He sums it up thusly.

So, to recap, we have have a government-subsidized, untaxed, virtually unregulated, corporate monopoly (rather than a city utility) that has no real incentive to reduce outages or downtime, because (a) there's nowhere else for its customers to go for electricity, and (b) they get paid whether they're supplying us with power or not.
I guess that's business friendly regulation for ya.
Don't get me wrong. We've prepared for these things as best we can. That means stocking up on batteries, flashlights, and candles. I've even got two chargers for my phone if the lights go out: one that uses regular batteries, and one hand-crank charger. We even got a hand-crank radio, for weather updates.

Powerless: Conservative Failure Returns Us to the Dark Ages | OurFuture.org

Amazing, the deregulation that would have eliminated the monopoly, and did not happen, is responsible for the monopoly that he hates, so he wants to have more regulations in order to make sure the monopoly gets stronger. Then he has the gall to write this.

Would that we had utilities that were more focused on service than the bottom line. But that would mean having something other than corporate run utilities.

Gotta love progressive logic.

Left wingers, what are ya gonna do? They aren't too bright.

 

[PredFan]

Why do right wingers believe "deregulation" means better? Are they that indoctrinated against common sense?

What part of "it did not get deregulated" didn't you get? Maryland has the Government running Utilities as I understand it. Not private Companies.

rdean doesn't "get" much.

 

[waltky]

Granny keeps her flashlight close at hand in case dem hackers cut off the `lectricity...

DoD official: Vulnerability of U.S. electrical grid is a dire concern
July 27th, 2012 - Speaking candidly at the Aspen Security Forum, one defense department official expressed great concern about the possibility of a terrorist attack on the U.S. electric grid that would cause a “long term, large scale outage.”

Paul Stockton, assistant secretary for Homeland Defense and Americas’ Security Affairs at the Department of Defense, said such an attack would affect critical defense infrastructure at home and abroad – a thought that Stockton said was keeping him up at night. “The DOD depends on infrastructure in order to be able to operate abroad. And to make those operations function, we depend on the electric grid,” Stockton said. The concern, Stockton continued, was that America’s adversaries would avoid attacking “the pointy end of the spear,” meaning combat troops, and would instead look for homeland, possibly non-military, targets. “Our adversaries, state and non-state, are not stupid. They are clever and adaptive,” Stockton said. “There is a risk that they will adopt a profoundly asymmetric strategy, reach around and attack us here at home, the critical infrastructure that is not owned by the Department of Defense.”

But Stockton’s concerns were not solely limited to terrorist attacks. Other concerning scenarios, said the assistant secretary, include geomagnetic disturbances, earthquakes and other natural disasters that could take down the grid. According to Stockton, a recurrence of a massive earthquake, like the New Madrid earthquake of 1812, “would cause a power outage for weeks to months across a multi-state area, rolling blackouts in the East Coast…” The New Madrid earthquakes hit along the Mississippi River in the town of New Madrid (now part of Missouri) and is still considered one of the largest earthquakes to ever hit the Eastern United States.

In response to a scenario like this, Stockton told the crowd that the Department of Defense is working with power companies in the Washington area – namely Pepco, Baltimore Gas and Electric and Virginia Dominion – and giving these companies “a new design basis for the grid of the future that takes into account cyber threats and other emerging threats.” Additionally, the three power companies and the Department of Defense are determining, in case of a massive outage, who gets their power restored first, according to Stockton. Even with the dire outlook, Stockton said that Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is making strides in how to respond to these outages, including changing the way defense supports civil authorities and provides life saving and life sustaining capabilities.

Source

See also:

Cyber Command chief flunks US in readiness to deal with cyber attacks
July 26th, 2012 - Since 2009, online attacks that could destroy key infrastructure in the U.S. have skyrocketed. And the man in charge of cyber defense gave the national a failing grade in being prepared.

Gen. Keith Alexander is director of the National Security Agency and commander of U.S. Cyber Command. He spoke Thursday at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado about cyber threats from around the world. When asked by moderator Pete Williams of NBC how well-prepared, on a scale of 1-10, the U.S. is for a serious cyber attack on a critical part of our infrastructure, Alexander said, "From my perspective I'd say around a 3." He later said that cyber attacks that could not just disrupt computer systems but destroy them or the machines they run have climbed more than seventeen-fold since 2009.

He said the nation's financial industries and Internet-related companies have very robust cyber security, but he's concerned about vital services that many take for granted until they're interrupted. "I'm worried most about the power. I'm worried about water, I think those are the ones that need the most help," Alexander said. But he said these destructive attacks have the potential to cause problems that last much longer than, say, a day without access to your Facebook account. "What they could do is destroy parts of our infrastructure like routers, servers, actual end devices that would have to be replaced. And if you do that in such a way, some of the replacement of that would take weeks or months."

Alexander said the threat to computers and the industries they run is sitting in the average American's hand each day. "Your cell phone is communicating completely digital; it's part of the Internet. Your attack surfaces for adversaries to get on the Internet now include all those mobile devices. And so, if you want to penetrate, you can go through a land line, to the Internet that way, or now we can go through the iPhone, or the Android or through your mobile device that way," Alexander said. "The mobile security situation lags. It's far behind."

His message was not all negative. He said work is under way to improve the nation's cyber defenses. "I do think there are government/industry partnerships to help mitigate as many of these vulnerabilities as possible." And as commander of the Pentagon's Cyber Command, his mission includes "conducting full-spectrum military cyberspace operations." When asked if his command has undertaken such operations he replied, "Yes, but I can't go into that." Alexander is encouraging Congress to pass the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, which would establish what the government and industry can do to protect the nation's computers from attack. The bill is moving through the Senate this week.

Source

 

[waltky]

Granny keeps her flashlight close at hand in case dem hackers cut off the `lectricity...

DoD official: Vulnerability of U.S. electrical grid is a dire concern
July 27th, 2012 - Speaking candidly at the Aspen Security Forum, one defense department official expressed great concern about the possibility of a terrorist attack on the U.S. electric grid that would cause a “long term, large scale outage.”

Paul Stockton, assistant secretary for Homeland Defense and Americas’ Security Affairs at the Department of Defense, said such an attack would affect critical defense infrastructure at home and abroad – a thought that Stockton said was keeping him up at night. “The DOD depends on infrastructure in order to be able to operate abroad. And to make those operations function, we depend on the electric grid,” Stockton said. The concern, Stockton continued, was that America’s adversaries would avoid attacking “the pointy end of the spear,” meaning combat troops, and would instead look for homeland, possibly non-military, targets. “Our adversaries, state and non-state, are not stupid. They are clever and adaptive,” Stockton said. “There is a risk that they will adopt a profoundly asymmetric strategy, reach around and attack us here at home, the critical infrastructure that is not owned by the Department of Defense.”

But Stockton’s concerns were not solely limited to terrorist attacks. Other concerning scenarios, said the assistant secretary, include geomagnetic disturbances, earthquakes and other natural disasters that could take down the grid. According to Stockton, a recurrence of a massive earthquake, like the New Madrid earthquake of 1812, “would cause a power outage for weeks to months across a multi-state area, rolling blackouts in the East Coast…” The New Madrid earthquakes hit along the Mississippi River in the town of New Madrid (now part of Missouri) and is still considered one of the largest earthquakes to ever hit the Eastern United States.

In response to a scenario like this, Stockton told the crowd that the Department of Defense is working with power companies in the Washington area – namely Pepco, Baltimore Gas and Electric and Virginia Dominion – and giving these companies “a new design basis for the grid of the future that takes into account cyber threats and other emerging threats.” Additionally, the three power companies and the Department of Defense are determining, in case of a massive outage, who gets their power restored first, according to Stockton. Even with the dire outlook, Stockton said that Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is making strides in how to respond to these outages, including changing the way defense supports civil authorities and provides life saving and life sustaining capabilities.

Source

See also:

Cyber Command chief flunks US in readiness to deal with cyber attacks
July 26th, 2012 - Since 2009, online attacks that could destroy key infrastructure in the U.S. have skyrocketed. And the man in charge of cyber defense gave the national a failing grade in being prepared.

Gen. Keith Alexander is director of the National Security Agency and commander of U.S. Cyber Command. He spoke Thursday at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado about cyber threats from around the world. When asked by moderator Pete Williams of NBC how well-prepared, on a scale of 1-10, the U.S. is for a serious cyber attack on a critical part of our infrastructure, Alexander said, "From my perspective I'd say around a 3." He later said that cyber attacks that could not just disrupt computer systems but destroy them or the machines they run have climbed more than seventeen-fold since 2009.

He said the nation's financial industries and Internet-related companies have very robust cyber security, but he's concerned about vital services that many take for granted until they're interrupted. "I'm worried most about the power. I'm worried about water, I think those are the ones that need the most help," Alexander said. But he said these destructive attacks have the potential to cause problems that last much longer than, say, a day without access to your Facebook account. "What they could do is destroy parts of our infrastructure like routers, servers, actual end devices that would have to be replaced. And if you do that in such a way, some of the replacement of that would take weeks or months."

Alexander said the threat to computers and the industries they run is sitting in the average American's hand each day. "Your cell phone is communicating completely digital; it's part of the Internet. Your attack surfaces for adversaries to get on the Internet now include all those mobile devices. And so, if you want to penetrate, you can go through a land line, to the Internet that way, or now we can go through the iPhone, or the Android or through your mobile device that way," Alexander said. "The mobile security situation lags. It's far behind."

His message was not all negative. He said work is under way to improve the nation's cyber defenses. "I do think there are government/industry partnerships to help mitigate as many of these vulnerabilities as possible." And as commander of the Pentagon's Cyber Command, his mission includes "conducting full-spectrum military cyberspace operations." When asked if his command has undertaken such operations he replied, "Yes, but I can't go into that." Alexander is encouraging Congress to pass the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, which would establish what the government and industry can do to protect the nation's computers from attack. The bill is moving through the Senate this week.

Source

 

[Katzndogz]

Why do right wingers believe "deregulation" means better? Are they that indoctrinated against common sense?

Perhaps you missed my point. The guy was complaining about how deregulation made things worse, and missed the point that deregulation did not happen. That means that, whatever caused the problem he is having getting his power back, it was not deregulation.

To liberals if the problem was caused by regulation or made worse by regulation, they will still claim it was deregulation and keep saying it until it's believed.