utility obfuscation and obstruction [RE-wrenches]

Wed May 8 06:12:31 PDT 2002

William:

Instead of a lock how about a short bolt, lock washer, and nut through
the locking tab.
Now it requires a tool to open but not a key.
If there guys want to see it then they can remove the bolt.
Keeps the little kiddies out but still gives them access.
That is if they ever come out to see the blades before the house and the
switchbox crumble into dust.

If you have any questions, or if I can be of any further assistance,
please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best Regards,

John Berdner

SMA America, Inc.
20830 Red Dog Road
Grass Valley, CA  95945
530.273.4895 (voice)
530.274.7271 (fax) 

-----Original Message-----
From: William Miller [mailto:wrmiller at slonet.org] 
Sent: Wednesday, May 08, 2002 12:05 AM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: Re: utility obfuscation and obstruction [RE-wrenches]

Venerable Colleagues:

I have always had mixed emotions about disconnect switches:

Just today a bunch of us attended a meeting with PG&E.  I asked the
question:  "Why don't any of the line crews I've queried have any data
about where these switches are located?"  The answer was, "We are
redrawing the maps and they will be on there within the year."

My thoughts:  If this is so important for safety, why the delay, and,
conversely, all new things take time, and if we did not install the
switches now, they couldn't ever be on a secondary map in the future.

I also had to replace a couple of disconnect switches because they
lacked external handles.  I was told that line crews need to be able to
inspect the handles from their vehicles.  I responded: What if the meter
is in the back yard? and, Are they going to padlock them from their
trucks?  No reply was given to these somewhat facetious questions. 

Another complaint about safety switches:  Children can open them and
access live parts.  Lock them shut and you can't inspect the blades.  Oy
vay!

All in all, if implemented reasonably, the switches do kind of make
sense. Backfeeds have killed line workers.  Technology does fail, even
with redundant safety systems.  This is one of my arguments against
nuclear power and I guess it applies here.

Regarding Jeff's situation, I'd consider the time it takes to fight them
versus the time it takes to replace a switch.  Jeff could insist on a
list of approved switches and if they ever try to disallow previously
allowed switches, fight them based on the written evidence.

Sorry I did not have a clearer answer to this thorny question.

William

At 07:19 PM 5/7/02 EDT, you wrote:
>In a message dated 05/07/2002 9:43:36 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
>jberdner at sma-america.com writes:
>
>
>> Makes perfect sense to me.
>> They want it to be more expensive to install so less people will do 
>> it.
>> 
>
>We all know that it is not about actually using the switch for safety. 
>You
>all are right, don't expect any servicemen to be out looking for
disconnects 
>on that dark and rainy night when the system is down--they will be very
busy 
>doing other things.
>
>The switch is about control. I had a customer locked out once. During 
>the
>meter install the service man determined erroneously that the system
had not 
>been permitted. At that point he took the inititive to lock the PV out.
A 
>call the next day to his supervisor got it fixed. I can say this is the
only 
>time I saw a utility person use the switch. It's about control.
>
>Don
>
>--
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
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__________________________________________________________________
William Miller
Miller Power and Communications
PO Box 50, Santa Margarita, CA 93453
Voice :805-438-5600		Fax: 805-438-4607	VMail:
805-546-4875
email: wrmiller at slonet.org
http://millerpowerandcomm.com
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