• ickplant@lemmy.worldOP
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    11
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    1 month ago

    all critical locations have huge DC batteries specifically design to take over during a short outage. Then generators.

    • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      9
      arrow-down
      10
      ·
      1 month ago

      There would always be a risk any backup systems fail. As another commenter pointed out, in other countries it would be illegal to cut power like that for that kind of reason. And that’s a good thing. Power is literally keeping people alive and shouldn’t be turned off because it seems mean to leave it on.

      But a better point is, no one discussing this knows what downstream effects could happen if they killed the power. Seems kind of crazy to me to pretend we do.

      • scratchee@feddit.uk
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        11
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 month ago

        A backup system that isn’t tested regularly is not a backup at all, just the illusion of one.

        If you can’t turn the power off with 24h notice then nature will turn it off with zero notice at the most inconvenient moment.

        • Robin@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          1 month ago

          They should indeed do regular tests of their backups. They should also ensure technical staff is on-site during those tests.

        • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          13
          ·
          1 month ago

          I do not follow the logic of people being so blinded by their love of cats that they literally think they can become electrical grid engineers and know all the risks, just because they want to know them.

          It does not matter if every single vulnerable building has backups and tested them yesterday (obviously none of that could ever be close to true), it’s still a non-zero risk to human lives, for one cat.

            • Jax@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              9
              ·
              1 month ago

              It’s amazing because electrical grids are designed to be able to have sections shut down at any time. The intended purpose is literally to prevent a catastrophic shutdown.

              Imagine pompously stating that your suggestion is somehow more logical on the basis of 1) there’s a good likelihood you aren’t an electrical engineer and 2) that there’s some kind of genuine risk here (because apparently this guy thinks the whole lynchpin to the fucking grid happens to be this exact pole).

              Dunning Kruger, at its finest. Glad to see you still have your head on straight.

            • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              4
              arrow-down
              4
              ·
              1 month ago

              Sure go ahead and assume I want the cat to die. Which I didn’t. What the fuck.

              The cat was rescued apparently anyway.

          • scratchee@feddit.uk
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            7
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            1 month ago

            The cat isn’t part of the equation, I gave no opinion on that. The risk of never testing your failure response is much higher than the risk of testing your failure response.

            If a test happens to save a cat? Lucky cat. If not, they’ll still have to test it at some other point anyway.

              • Jax@sh.itjust.works
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                5
                arrow-down
                1
                ·
                1 month ago

                No you’re just trying to suggest that a test can’t be pushed up because you hate cats.

                Unless you genuinely just do not understand what they mean, which is likely.

      • ickplant@lemmy.worldOP
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        10
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        1 month ago

        If their back up system fails then it’s their fault for not keeping it up to date. Seriously, my husband is an engineer who designs these battery systems. They do not “fail” if they are maintained and replaced properly.

        • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          6
          arrow-down
          11
          ·
          1 month ago

          Patently absurd. Technology often fails regardless of what you do. Inviting that failure would be negligence and should be illegal.

          The one thing I know for sure about any engineer is that we are intimately familiar with the concept of things failing when it’s least convenient.

          • Dozzi92@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            arrow-down
            7
            ·
            1 month ago

            We’ve got the Lemmy/Reddit worldview out in force. We should shut down vital infrastructure, risking life safety of many, for a cat. I say this loving cats: that’s silly.

            • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              arrow-down
              8
              ·
              1 month ago

              Yeah, I knew when I commented it might get some backlash, but the strength of it is somewhat depressing. Isn’t Lemmy supposed to be mostly rational intelligent people?

              I guess it just tells us how commonplace it is for people to declare a risk either worth it or non-existent without a fucking clue about the actual risk they are talking about.

              In any case, thank you for demonstrating that there are still some sane people left out there.