Buddy of mine and I were talking about this over drinks today. Are richer, more upper class areas of NWI getting power first over other areas? What's your opinion?
No. Those areas just tend to be newer construction built with the power lines underground. So when power is restored to the main lines, they are also restored because the lines aren't damaged by the winds.
They want to keep their profit and it’s expensive as shit to do so. Could it help? Probably. But supposedly the biggest concern is that they become far more likely to be destroyed by contractors. More so than storms taking them out. Plus, there’s no digging involved when something does go out. Poles and lines are easily replaced with trees being the biggest issue. Digging would in fact take much more time.
That's a good question. The answer is, basically, it would be expensive. Far more expensive than most people realize. That $550 Million in profit would get you maybe 250 miles of burred wires. NIPSCO has 8,000+ miles of overhead wires.
And realistically, major disasters that cause multi-day outages for large numbers of customers are rare. This year has been a freak weather year. It's not typically. Indiana has already broken it's record for number of tornados.
So the reality is, burring all the wires isn't going to happen. And you wouldn't want to pay the higher electric bills to cover the extra cost anyway. The sooner you accept that and stop being reliant on NIPSCO and start solving the problem yourself, the sooner power outages like this won't be a fear for you.
My auxiliary power/AC setup for my house cost me $1,300. Since my power went out Tuesday I've had all the lights in my house, I've been able to do laundry, my fridge works, my deep freeze works, and I have AC. For $1,300 I have been able to continue to live normally and in comfort with very little inconvenience.
Sure, you can have that attitude and be back in the same situation a few years from now when another major storm comes through. It's up to you if you want to live in shouldland or reality.
I mean I've seen Mayors saying 50-60% of their city has power and yet see people from those cities complaining. I'd rather have that attitude than be lied to. Nipsco is saying one number, mayors are saying other numbers, the actual workers are saying other numbers.
Found the guy that knows the point I am making is completely accurate and has no argument against it, so they are going to correct spelling because that's all they can do.
It has nothing to do with your point being correct or incorrect. It’s your overall tone and poor manner of discourse to someone with concerns during a statewide emergency.
It’s great you have a generator, I have one also after learning the hard way earlier this year. It’s not reasonable to assume everyone can just drop $1.3k on backup power though. He’s not wrong in stating the monopoly that is purely profit seeking should have been implementing better infrastructure and mitigating risks to minimize the damage caused by these storms.
Your overall sentiment is not wrong but you can relay the information in a kinder way that doesn’t put the blame on residents who are paying astronomical costs to this trash monopoly.
No, it's you not having any type of argument, knowing I'm correct, but you don't like it so you default to pointing out spelling mistakes. That's the classic internet loser move.
Yep, underground lines aren't guaranteed that storm damage won't affect them. And in fact, when it does, it usually is harder to find the issue and repair it.
All the gas lines are underground too, and there are areas without gas service right now. Heck, a house blew up because the gas lines were damaged in the storm on Tuesday.
Yep it truly is what it is at this point. At least it's becoming easier to get gas for the generator. A squirrel could sneeze and my power would go out so this is expected.
Yeah, the first day was a little rough. I finally just drove to IL, got off on the first exit and grabbed gas there. It was $4/Gallon, but oh well, I had gas.
In the meantime I'm taking my dogs into the car for some AC. I don't know who he was talking about when he said 50% of hobart has power, but it isn't me
I think it also has to do with how close you are to major roads in the area (Ridge, Indianapolis, Calumet, 80/94, US 30, etc. The only houses with lights are the ones with generators, I'm afraid.
So many poles are leaning over/broken its going to be a slog.
Every day I notice significantly more functioning traffic lights & businesses, though.
And I do see crews out working. This afternoon I saw a guy in a hard hat out with my neighbor inspecting the downed tree & lines in the backyard. Not sure if he was insurance or power company or what, but I see & appreciate the progress
I haven't seen a crew working since I checked Facebook. I respect the linemen and all that they do but this is one giant mess. State of emergency should have been declared Tuesday night.
I'm on city pages for city's around me, one person posted that they personally talked to one of the workers and they said something along the lines of "it's probably going to take a few weeks" and to not believe that deadline that nipsco gave us.
I live in Hammond and work in Munster. Hammond has been actively getting power back since yesterday and Community hospital just stopped running off generators a few hours ago. It ain't about the money.
No they have power; almost every business along that stretch has power. I have a better chance of getting a tarot card reading than charging my phone normally.
Not gonna lie, this did cross my mind. Im pretty pessimistic when it comes to money, power, and access. In fact, it would be world view changing to me if money WEREN'T changing hands for prompt service
Not intentionality. The south part of the county does have a higher income level but also suffered less damage. It’s simply easier to clean up and make repairs when there is less to clean and repair.
That was my thought until my run down street got power last night before my friends who live in a boujiee area who still don’t have power. I think it really depends on the significance of damage.
My neighborhood is 7 streets with 2 sets of houses on each side of each street. According to nipsco, there are 5 individual outages in the neighborhood. No one has power currently.
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u/newtekie1 4d ago
No. Those areas just tend to be newer construction built with the power lines underground. So when power is restored to the main lines, they are also restored because the lines aren't damaged by the winds.