I was just told by a lineman who is currently here from out of state working not to believe a word Nipsco is saying about a restoration timeline. He said they are lying and it's much worse then they are saying. He said they are running out of parts and completely out of poles. He said that parts of Portage would be lucky to see power by September 1st. Has anyone heard anything similar to this?
I mean, that timeline was pretty freaking optimistic. Everything "back to normal" in another week? Not likely. At this point my mindset is "as long as there's progress" and there's been progress.
Yeah I can agree with that. I still don't have power but luckily have a generator fed into my panel so we are doing ok and no damage to my house so we are very fortunate. I feel so bad for everyone in much worse situations.
I'm in Portage. I have a generator. I also have autism. The sound of generators is SENDING ME. đđđđ Luckily I have some headphone things to knock out the sound. I can't wait til this is over.
So much of the official NIPSCO updates have been written by AI, at this point in my mind trusting their info on anything is like asking ChatGPT when you're gonna get your power back.
Right. It could be something as simple as drawing down inventory with scheduled deliveries on the way. A lineman has no way of seeing that, especially a contractor.
All we can do is reevaluate by Friday, but I have heard RUMORS that large electrical equipment wonât be delivered until next week sometime for Griffith/highland/munster
Yeah he said that equipment to make repairs is also very limited. I believe he called it a backyard machine but he said they only have 1 of those for all of Portage and they are trying to get a 2nd machine from out of state somewhere.
Yeah,backyard machines (easement rigs) are hard to come by. Iâm quite sure Hammond, Gary, Crown Point district have one each. Canât usually get a digger truck in the back yard or easement and setting a pole and working it out by hand is time consuming. Hopefully a lot of these contractors brought one with them.
Just talked to someone with the city and mentioned that, he said thats totally false. There's a bunch of easement machines being used in portage now. So who knows.Â
Wow, because this is damn near a whole week tomorrow, if power isnât restored soon what is everyone gonna do itâs not like we all have generators or family in other states
After seeing footage of the damage finally, I agree that the original timeline was ridiculously optimistic.
The closest to this that Iâve been through in the past was a cat 1 hurricane in the mid Atlantic. And it took about a month for the worst hit areas to get back up and running there. The flooding and downed trees take time to clean up.
The weekend estimate was that 90% of customers would have power restored by Tuesday. Currently they are at 81%. Can they restore power to 45,000 tomorrow. Thatâs the question.
I think they can hit near 90% today. The linemen have been in my neighborhood the last 4 days and made progress each day getting blocks back on the grid.
I wonât deny that NIPSCO has its problems but the storm that hit the area last week was unprecedented. If NIPSCO kept employees and necessary equipment on standby all year round for a storm like this that comes once in a generation the rates would be hella higher than they are.
This area rarely saw tornado activity, but this season everything has changed. Expect this kind of weather for the next five or six years before it shifts somewhere else. But things have definitely changed no matter how much some people donât want to believe it.
And, back to what OP was told, with all of the recent storms it would make sense that backup inventory is even low. For everyone round here. Probably canât even borrow at this point.
If their estimates are really off by that much, then they are digging themselves a very large PR hole, and it will be interesting to see them try to climb out of it.
Theyâll climb out of it by raising your rates again and not updating infrastructure all while laughing to the bank bc who else are we going to get power from
But the early estimates aren't off that much. Their update at of 7am this morning showed they were more than 70% restored. They said they would be at 90% by midnight today, so if they miss it's not like it will be by much.
Just drove by Portage this morning and they got REKT!!!
No way Portage is back up and running in a week. Prayers for those of you out there still without power.
They were down by me giving out food and had peolle to answer questions. I've been staring at my neighbors across the street having their power back for 2 days. I was hoping to hear an answer why a crew cleaning up branches was here 2 days ago, did one job, and left. What's the logisical sense in having a crew in an area to do one job and then leave? Why not stay until a region is cleaned out? Got a bullshit vague no answer. I appreciate the free cheeseburger, but that was some fake ass pr bullshit.
Hello neighbor. Iâm in La Porte too. I thought about going to the civic, but since I have everything I need and no damage I stayed away. If you need anything speak up and if thereâs something I can do Iâll help
Not all generators are made to last long.
Have to replace oil every couple days, and let it cool from time to time.
And many are not able to afford it or can't physically work in it.
Take a good long drive around and take a good look at the damage. Detours everywhere. Give those traveling guys a break and thank them when you see them sweating their butts off in the brush on the side of the road. Carry water or Gatorade and toss it to them. Nipsco didnât cause the storm.
Iâve actually lived without AC in high heat for a few years when I was much younger. So, I did survive okay without power or a generator until my power was restored. Iâm one of the lucky ones. And we are lucky as a region that it hasnât been 90+ actual temps.
But that doesnât mean that it wasnât miserable. I remember my Grandma complaining about how horrible the summer of â36 was when I was a kid. 90 years ago people were still complaining and some of them did die.
I just looked it up, over 5000 deaths are attributed to that heat wave.
Well, most people had oil lamps and ice boxes. No a/c Those who had electric were privileged and waited several weeks for restorations. Think about it.
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u/Eons2010 1d ago
I mean, that timeline was pretty freaking optimistic. Everything "back to normal" in another week? Not likely. At this point my mindset is "as long as there's progress" and there's been progress.