Were the TMI and Harrisburg incidents posted here yet? I didn't see them, but I have not read all the posts yet. If not, I can post the latest articles...
The Harrisburg thing had it's own thread, and jerseygirl just posted the TMI text.
Nix my last post. jerseygirl just posted one update.
The latest in Tallahassee is this (no dump truck in these articles):
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Tallahassee melts, crashes in massive power failure
Half of Tallahassee sweltered without power in 90 degree-plus heat this afternoon as city utility workers scrambled to bring three generating units back online.
With almost half of the city's 300 traffic lights out because of the massive power failure, car crashes were frequent. Police planned to direct traffic at major intersections during rush hour, but the mayhem began early as people left work early because of the lack of electricity.
Police reminded motorists to treat intersections with non-functioning lights like four-way stops and to be very careful when entering intersections.
The power failure began about 1:30 p.m. with a malfunction in the city's Purdom plant at St. Marks, which just went back online a week earlier. By 2 p.m., the problem had cascaded and the city's two power plants -Purdom and Hopkins - had lost all generating capacity.
At the time, the city's electric utility was runing a load of about 550 megawatts, near its record high of 590 megawatts. By 4 p.m., the city was generating 100 watts of power, using all the city's small gas turbine and emergency peaking units and the 10 megawatt hydroelectric generator on Lake Talquin. In addition, power was being purchased from other sources and brought in on city transmission lines.
Utility customers with power were asked to set their air-conditioning thermostats at 78 degrees, keep their refrigerator and freezer doors closed and to turn off all non-essential appliances.
City officials were hopeful that power could be restored to all customers within two or three hours, but many city customers remained without power almost three hours after the initial failure.
Currently, all small gas turbine and emergency peaking units have been started, and are generating 100 megawatts of power. Other power is being brought in on city transmission lines. Work is underway to bring up Generating Units Hopkins1 and 2, and Purdom Unit 8.
At approximately 1:30 p.m. this afternoon, the City of Tallahassee experienced a malfunction that by 2 p.m. resulted in generators at the city's two power plants losing all generating capability. This has resulted in widespread power outages with approximately half of the city's 97,000 customers losing power.
The most critical impact is in terms of traffic, as up to 120 traffic lights are inoperable of the nearly 300 traffic lights in the city. Motorists are reminded to treat any intersection without an operating traffic light as a four way stop and to use extreme caution when crossing intersections.
The City's electric utility was running a load of about 550 megawatts when the generators went down. The record high is 590 megawatts. Currently, all small gas turbine and emergency peaking units have been started, and are generating 100 megawatts of power. Other power is being brought in on city transmission lines. Work is underway to bring up Generating Units Hopkins1 and 2, and Purdom Unit 8. At the present time, it is estimated that the majority of service could be restored within the next few hours.
Residents who have lost power are asked to please manually turn off their air conditioning system so that power will not overload during startup operations. Refrigerator and freezer doors should remain closed to help keep food inside cold. Those with electricity are asked to please conserve power usage by raising thermostats to at least 78 degrees or higher and restricting use of electric appliances.
Tallahassee Police officers will be staffing key intersections at peak afternoon drive time as needed. City residents can assist by dialing "911" only in the case of a true emergency and not to report a power outage.
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Power knocked out in parts of Tallahassee; red lights out
Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Power was knocked out Tuesday to about half of Tallahassee when two generators serving the city failed. Officials said temperatures in the mid-90s likely played a part in the outage.
The brownout left about half the city's 97,000 power customers without electricity for a couple hours early Tuesday afternoon after the city's two main generating plants both failed around the same time, said city spokesman Bill Behenna.
He said the city-owned utility was "on its way to a record load," when the generators failed, with temperatures in the mid-90s and a heat index around 100. Behenna said officials weren't sure yet whether high usage was definitely to blame, but expected it at least played a role in the power failure.
The brownout caused 120 traffic lights around the city to go out about the same time, and officials were hoping to get them working before the afternoon rush hour.
Power at the 22-story Capitol building was out for about 20 minutes but was restored by mid-afternoon, a Capitol Police spokesman said.