11 November 2011

ACTEW scheduling power outages on a Saturday?

| kevn
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I got a letter from the General Manager, Network, at ACTEW today, informing me that my power will be out next Saturday from 8:30-4pm.

I suppose having the letter signed by someone so senior gives it an air of authorit…oh wait, it’s just a form letter…

Of course, I understand the need for power maintenance, but all day on a Saturday? I guess weekday maintenance must effect some people out there too, but weekend maintenance would effect many more.

The day of washing…cooking…bbqing…cleaning…written off with little more than a week’s notice.

I know the forewarning is standard, but how long have ACTEW been doing this on Saturday’s? Very poor form.

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Waiting For Godot7:06 pm 12 Nov 11

Keijidosha said :

poetix said :

If anyone else has a real problem with mains services being disconnected for a day, go hire a generator from Kennards!

Prior to a previous outage we received a letter from ACTEW-AGL warning us not to use generators. I told my mother that it was simply the electricity supplier not wanting people to get generators, discover an alternative to ACTEW-AGL and thus deprive them of revenue. Is there a valid (non-revenue) reason for them not wanting the public to use generators?

There is no convenient time for power outages, but essential maintenance saves a great deal of inconvenience down the track.

I had a similar notice a while back when they were replacing old poles in my suburb. The notice said ‘between 8.30am and 4.30pm’, but the actual outage only lasted a couple of hours, which seems to be usually the case. They can’t predict exactly how long every house will be off line or when, so they just give a blanket warning for the whole day.

Deal with it, or perhaps you would prefer to go off the grid and rely on a windmill to avoid outrageous impositions like maintenance of your 24/7/365 power supply. Sheesh!

harvyk1 said :

Ah my number one hatrid, people using the tag line of “first world problems” to dismiss stuff… Does the fact that we do have a good electricity supply deminish the annoyance of being told it will be disconnected for a period of time?

Yes.
or, when the powers off you could use your time to remove the heads of monkeybike riders with piano wire as you mentioned in a previous thread.

Electric BBQ…??

poetix said :

I thought there was a legal requirement (or at least a well established practice) to give a certain length of notice when there is a planned outage, because of people on medical equipment that uses electricity. One week might not be enough time in those circumstances. That’s a lot more important than not being able to clean the house, which is a good thing.

ActewAGL have a “do not disconnect” database. From memory people on that list are ensured continued supply, or have alternative arrangements made.

If anyone else has a real problem with mains services being disconnected for a day, go hire a generator from Kennards!

I got my note ages ago, so now I’m not sure if we’ve already had our interruption and I just took it in stride and forgot about it.

Pretty sure we got more than one week notice though.

I, like the others, don’t see what the problem is. Cleaning etc can be done on Sunday and taking the opportunity to visit some friends who aren’t affected or going for a day trip to the wineries out Murrumbateman way (Clonakilla is a must stop and spend cellar door!) seem like excellent alternatives to spending the day at home using electricity.

Also, SpectraLOl. Hope the side of the bed you chose was more accommodating today…

Not sure I can edit my post. Maybe I am blind on tiny mobile screen. Anyway:

Suburb is Lyons. Unclear of scope within. I doubt they’re shutting down Woden Plaza though.
:p

Watson – I have had one such notice that never eventuates, so your probably right about the time thing.

No mention in comments if anyone else has had this experience – ie my original question – is this a new thing?

creative_canberran said :

If it’s Acton affected this Saturday, I’ll be sending a very sincere thank you to Mr ACTEW CEO!

Someone has a Saturday exam at ANU methinks. By the way – the OP stated next Saturday, not this Saturday.

creative_canberran2:07 pm 11 Nov 11

If it’s Acton affected this Saturday, I’ll be sending a very sincere thank you to Mr ACTEW CEO!

Watson said :

I don’t know the reason behind doing this type of stuff on a Saturday, but could it be because it would cost businesses money if they did it on a weekday?

Agreed. It would be useful if the OP provided some information about the area affected. If it’s somewhere with a lot of office buildings for example then it makes perfect sense to do it on a weekend. Otherwise there might be a bunch of office workers wandering around muttering “very poor form”

Wow, some people commenting in here are clearly having a really crappy day. Anywho…

From my experience, these outages very rarely actually last that long. The last time we had one that was supposed to be all day on a day I was home (could’ve been Sat, I forget), I barely noticed it went off at all. So it may not be as bad as you think. And while the electricity is off, put your feet up and have a beer. I love forced rest days!

I don’t know the reason behind doing this type of stuff on a Saturday, but could it be because it would cost businesses money if they did it on a weekday?

I thought there was a legal requirement (or at least a well established practice) to give a certain length of notice when there is a planned outage, because of people on medical equipment that uses electricity. One week might not be enough time in those circumstances. That’s a lot more important than not being able to clean the house, which is a good thing.

Kevn – what suburbs are impacted by this planned outage? I know I received a letter a while ago, but can’t find it now and wonder if it’s next Saturday that we’ll be without (in Wanniassa) for a while.

Sorry Spectra I’ll rememba to run my next commnet thruogH a spell chceker.

That said my number one hatred is still people using “First World Problems” as the be all and end all catchcry to dismiss any problems because they feel others in the world are doing it tougher.

I could of course state that by attacking my spelling and grammar your complaint is a “First World Problem” because there any many people out there who can’t even afford internet access and thus don’t have the luxury of complaining about people on the internet. But of course you wouldn’t want to be getting annoyed at a “First World Problem”

harvyk1 said :

Ah my number one hatrid, people using the tag line of “first world problems” to dismiss stuff…

Ah, my number one hatred – people deciding that the last thing that annoyed them to any degree is their “number one hatred”. Actually, now my number one hatred is people misspelling “hatred”.

harvyk1 said :

Does the fact that we do have a good electricity supply deminish the annoyance of being told it will be disconnected for a period of time?

Assuming you mean “diminish”, no, of course it doesn’t – on the contrary, it raises expectations and makes it subjectively far more annoying. The real question, though, is does it make it “very poor form”? I would submit that reasonable notice (I would consider >1 week to be “reasonable”), and a best-effort to minimise the duration of the interruption (in my experience the actual outage is usually considerably shorter than the times they state) constitute perfectly reasonable “form” for a utility company.

harvyk1 said :

I also agree with the OP, having only a weeks notice of a planned supply cut during a weekend where typically it will cause maximum inconvenience in suburban area’s would be very annoying and pretty poor form on ACTEW…

You also apparently agree with him that an apostrophe is something that should just be thrown in any time you have an ‘s’ on the end of a word. Seriously, though, I’d much rather that ACTEW did critical work as soon as possible when it was deemed necessary than wait because it might inconvenience someone slightly, and have the result being an [i]unscheduled[/i] and considerably longer outage.

Ah my number one hatrid, people using the tag line of “first world problems” to dismiss stuff… Does the fact that we do have a good electricity supply deminish the annoyance of being told it will be disconnected for a period of time?

I also agree with the OP, having only a weeks notice of a planned supply cut during a weekend where typically it will cause maximum inconvenience in suburban area’s would be very annoying and pretty poor form on ACTEW…

Spectra said :

Very poor form.

Wow. First world problems at their finest. You get a over a week of warning, it’s probably the only outage you’ve had in well over a year, and still it’s not nearly good enough for you.

There could be any number of good reasons for scheduling work on a Saturday – I’m sure ACTEW isn’t paying the time-and-a-half to or whatever it is to their workers simply to annoy you (though please don’t let that stop you from feeling personally aggrieved by this).

+1

Why not use the opportunity on Saturday to take a trip somewhere nice, then do all your housework on Sunday?

#whitewhine

Very poor form.

Wow. First world problems at their finest. You get a over a week of warning, it’s probably the only outage you’ve had in well over a year, and still it’s not nearly good enough for you.

There could be any number of good reasons for scheduling work on a Saturday – I’m sure ACTEW isn’t paying the time-and-a-half to or whatever it is to their workers simply to annoy you (though please don’t let that stop you from feeling personally aggrieved by this).

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