717 replies to this topic

[lanforod]

except your coffee maker is nearly 100% efficient at space heating. so if it is on any time that you might also use heating in a 24 hour period of its use you are not “losing” that electricity.

just like incandescent lights.

 

True, though the fact that we don't need heating for >half the year here still makes that a waste.

[LeoVictoria]

True, though the fact that we don't need heating for >half the year here still makes that a waste.

And if you heat with a heat pump which is 200-300% efficient the 100% is not great.

[Victoria Watcher]

i don’t mean efficiency in that way. i mean it in their it turns that electricity into heat the most efficient way possible - so a reading above 100% is impossible.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 12 March 2019 - 09:41 AM.

[LeoVictoria]

i don’t mean efficiency in that way. i mean it in their it turns that electricity into heat the most efficient way possible - so a reading above 100% is impossible.

Yeah I get it. The point is that it’s still a waste to heat at 100% efficiency when your primary source of heat is more efficient.

Efficiency is not the right word, but heat pumps will produce 2 to 4 times more heat per unit energy in than a baseboard heater.

So an incandescent bulb for example is still wasting power even though 100% of the energy is going into heat because a heat pump would have turned the 95W of power into three times as much heat energy

[tjv]

Just got my hydro bill, a nearly 7% increase in rates!  Combine that with a 30-40% increase in the cost of real estate over the past few years plus a oh 25% increase in gas prices.  Of course inflation thou is only running at ~2% 

[Victoria Watcher]

70” tvs are down 14,000% over the past 10 years.

[DustMagnet]

Power outage at 3:52PM this afternoon in View Royal.  BC Hydro is showing an outage still but the power came back on less than a minute later.

 

https://www.bchydro....rent-1812901382

[Rob Randall]

My uncle heard a rumour Hydro was increasing its rates so inquired and got this reply:

 

We have not increased our rates. Rates are decreasing by 1 per cent as of tomorrow, April 1st, following an update to our Revenue Requirements Application that we filed with the BC Utilities Commission last year. Any rate change we make is always subject to approval from the BCUC.

 

[Nparker]

We have not increased our rates. Rates are decreasing by 1 per cent as of tomorrow, April 1st,

April Fools!

[Mike K.]

Indeed. Down 0.99 this year, up 2.7% next year, down 0.3% in 2022 and up 3.0% in 2023.

Average residential customers will save $16 this year with the rate drop.

[shoeflack]

^Which means one extra Salsiccia piccante from Prima Strada for me! Thanks BC Hydro!

 

But hey, can they drop it 1.5% instead...would love a beer with my pizza.

[Mike K.]

Yeah!

 

I wonder what the industrial guy will spend his $230k on?

[Rob Randall]

We are all stuck at home a lot right now using electricity. If you feel BC Hydro (or the Utilities Commission) should temporarily suspend Hydro's two-step residential rate, sign this petition:

 

https://www.change.o...138073-en-ca:v2

[todd]

“BC Hydro report raises safety concerns as pandemic prompts jump in yard work”: https://www.oakbayne...p-in-yard-work/

[pontcanna]

Major power outage this morning:

 

https://www.vicnews....d-as-of-10-a-m/

[Nparker]

My power was out for just under 10 minutes.

[Victoria Watcher]

B.C. Hydro is seeking bids for the seismic upgrade project at Campbell River’s John Hart Dam, which could cost up to $822 million.

 

“This is an important project for the Campbell River area,” Energy Minister Bruce Ralston said in a statement Friday. “It will provide benefits to the local economy, for public safety and for clean electricity generation.”

 

A preliminary estimate predicts that more than 600 person years of work, with about 100 people working at the site at any one time, is anticipated during the expected six-year build out, B.C. Hydro spokesman Stephen Watson said.

 

The project is aimed at ­updating the 2,624-foot-long dam, which was constructed in the 1940s, to meet modern ­seismic standards to ensure it could survive a major earthquake. B.C. Hydro is also planning seismic upgrades on its Ladore and Strathcona dams, also within the Campbell River system.

 

An application for seismic work on the John Hart facility will be submitted to the B.C. Utilities Commission next week.

 

The project’s cost is estimated at between $497 million and $822 million. The figures will be refined as the plan moves forward, the Crown corporation said.

 

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...eration-4878676

 

 

Three hydroelectric dams are located on the Campbell River: the John Hart Dam, finished in 1947, which impounds John Hart Lake; upstream, the Ladore Dam, completed in 1949 on Lower Campbell Lake; and the Strathcona Dam, completed 1958, impounding Upper Campbell Lake furthest upstream.  Each dam has an accompanying generating station, of which the John Hart Generating Station near the John Hart Dam is the largest. Combined, the three generating stations account for about 11 percent of Vancouver Island's total electricity supply.  Due to seismic concerns from the age of the generating stations, the John Hart generating station underwent upgrades spanning 2014 to 2019.

 

https://en.wikipedia...ncouver_Island)

 

The Campbell River generating system of BC Hydro is comprised of three power generating stations. Upper Campbell Lake discharges through the 65 MW Strathcona Generating Station (G.S.) into Lower Campbell Lake. Lower Campbell Lake is the headpond for the 47 MW Ladore G.S. Ladore discharges into John Hart Lake, which is the reservoir for the 126 MW John Hart G.S., Upper Campbell Lake is the storage reservoir for all four installations.

 

http://wikimapia.org...erating-Station

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 18 December 2021 - 05:24 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

THIS is a good run-down of the hydro generating capacity on the Island:

 

https://www.bchydro....ver-island.html

 

Where: Vancouver Island, off the south coast

Facilities:

• 4 hydroelectric systems, with 6 generating stations, built between 1911 and 1971.

Total capacity: About 471 megawatts (MW), about 4 per cent of BC Hydro's total capacity.

Total power generated: The Vancouver Island region generates an average of about 1,900 gigawatt-hours (GWh) a year, about 4 per cent of BC Hydro's total 46,000 GWh.

 

 

Here is the Ash River one, that looks pretty remote:

 

 

And here is Puntledge:

 

 

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 18 December 2021 - 05:35 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Hydro Ottawa says damage from Saturday's storm is "simply beyond comprehension" as it brings in reinforcements to help with repairs.

More than 200,000 people in the region are still without power and Hydro Ottawa says no area of the city was unaffected.

https://www.cbc.ca/n...storm-1.6463100

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 23 May 2022 - 05:31 AM.

[Mike K.]

Who knew, that trees grow, and start to fall on things when knocked over, and those things include the power grid situated next to trees.

We haven’t seen anything yet. For the last dozen generations our urban areas had tree removal practices based on sense and pragmatism. Now you can’t touch trees without a tribunal deciding on whether you’re allowed to remove it, and replace it.