Sajeev Cholayil:
| Sir/M'm,
| Actually it does not concern me, but I would like to find out the
meaning of
| the following phrase as discussed somewhere else.
| "California has seen its lights go out"
| Thank You,
| Sajeev.
What is being referred to here, Sajeev, is that the State of California
(and parts of Arizona, Nevada, and Oregon) is presently undergoing
"rolling blackouts" on some days. That is, central electrical service
is interrupted to selected areas for up to about two hours so that there
will be adequate power to supply the remaining users.
Just why this situation has come about in the "Golden State" depends on
who you believe--but it seems fair to me to mention the phenomenal
population growth in California lately (The current population is
rumored to be about 33 million--up almost 10% in the last 10 years.);
the steadfast opposition of environmental groups to the construction of
new power generating plants; and the concentration in the state of
Internet "backbone" providers--whose equipment uses lots of electricity.
And don't let me fail to mention that the price of electricty (until
now--this may be in for a change) hardly reflects the true social costs
of power generation and distribution. (We are still paying only $ 0.056
US per kwh where I live in Central California.)
Here are the links to two recent articles on the subject which appeared
in my local newspaper, the Modesto Bee.
Power blackouts not likely Tuesday, officials say
http://www.modbee.com/metro/story/0,1113,232572,00.html
Power grid strained; blackouts predicted
http://www.modbee.com/metro/story/0,1113,232493,00.html
Karlo
