Posted on 04/15/2023 6:36:44 PM PDT by CFW
Here in Alabama our power is pretty dependable (except for people living on the coast experiencing a hurricane). When the government made our utility shut down coal plants our utility switched to more natural gas fueled power instead of going with solar or wind. So my experience wasn't less dependable power -- it was the costs shooting up much more than a reasonable 3% or so inflation. For example, in my March 2023 power bill the per kWh cost was up 19.8% more than two years prior (March 2021). (This is after first subtracting flat monthly rate and fee just for staying connected.) Natural gas cost also shot up big time with Brandon.
That's why I installed a bunch of solar and converted my two natural gas appliances to electric ones and did other energy efficiencies to the house. Also, when it was time to replace my wife's car anyway we got an EV and do most of our driving in it (buying little gasoline for the ICE pickup whenever we have pickup chores). Our home solar produces over 80% of the power we need, even with charging the EV. Plus it provides whole house backup power (it powers the whole house anyway unless I go a few days in a row with no sun). The little bit the grid has gone out I wouldn't have known it except for my inverter beeping to warn me.
Is there anything they do right in Illinois?
When power is out for an extended period I run my dual-fuel generator long enough to run the refrigerator until the condensor stops running and and possibly a space heater to heat a room, at which time I shut the generator and heater off. I keep enough gasoline to run my riding mower and other yard tools plus I have gas in 4 vehicles I can siphon. I also have propane tanks from various grills and such.
I have a Westinghouse 5300 watt generator I bought for about $750.
The I90 reconstruction from Rockford to O'Hare was done right. My observation is Illinois lets the roads go to crap, then patch them until they can't patch them any longer.
The I90 reconstruction from Rockford to O'Hare was done right. My observation is Illinois lets the roads go to crap, then patch them until they can't patch them any longer.
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