Hackers and the US Power grid

[Louis Mamakos]

On Nov 11, 2012, at 4:49 PM, Dave Skolnick <dskolnick at gmail.com> wrote:

>> 
>> As an aside; I believe PEPCO "engineered" their problems.  They got so
>> much flack about tree trimming they just stopped.  They waited until
>> the public was sick of power failures that resulted from falling limbs
>> and trees, and it made it easier for them to trim the trees.  The
>> problem is, there are still people who don't want their trees trimmed.
> 
> The same thing happens here in BGE-land. PUC doesn't want to take the
> political flack for allowing tree trimming so BGE doesn't get funded.
> We get a storm, trees fall on wires, FEMA provides funds to repair,
> trucks roll from across the Eastern seaboard, PUC looks like heros,
> and BGE looks like they are sitting on their thumbs.

I live in rural, central PA.  In Three Springs.  You've never heard of it,
nobody has :-)    We have a very low subscriber density and yet our
rural electric power co-op has better availability than I recall when 
I used to live in Laurel, MD.  They have a continuous, aggressive
right-of-way tree trimming program; they cycle through their entire
system every 5 years.  

When you join the co-op to get power, you get to sign a document that
affirms their ability to maintain the right-of-way that crosses your
property.  No one forces you to; you're certain free to generate
your own power if you like.  On the other hand, we have quite a 
surplus of trees so no one gets excited about that activity, anyway.

I remember seeing utility easements on property surveys on each
occasion I had to buy/sell a house.  It wouldn't seem like tree trimming
should be a problem.  But I suspect most people don't get it.  Heck,
it boggles my mind that developers plant trees alongside the roadway
RIGHT UNDER THE POWER LINES.

louie
wa3ymh