LA trips over the power cord, plans Skynet deployment
Our Los Angeles datacenters kicked over to emergency power last week for several hours thanks to "human error" that affected two million customers. The AP article says the power company estimates two weeks to explain why humans make mistakes, but somewhat longer to deploy Skynet so they can Terminate future problems.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - An inaccurate work order led to the power outage that shut down elevators, traffic lights and ATMs across much of the city earlier this week, the Department of Water and Power said."It was a case of miscommunication," said Henry Martinez, assistant general manager of the DWP.
The outage, which affected about 2 million people, happened when a utility crew cut several control lines in the San Fernando Valley.
Martinez said DWP engineers had directed that the lines be left intact, but inaccurate work drawings called for the lines to be cut. The DWP was trying to determine who drafted the order.
DWP General Manager Ron Deaton told the City Council on Tuesday that power was restored to nearly all customers within an hour and a half, but that he was perplexed that such an accident would affect so many customers. He said he would work on finding a fix to limit future outages.
City Councilman Tony Cardenas said Thursday that engineers should have double-checked the work drawings.
"The bottom line is what are they doing to minimize these incidents," said Cardenas, who chairs a committee that oversees the DWP.
About 756,000 households and businesses with almost 2 million people from downtown Los Angeles to the San Fernando Valley lost power Monday for as long as 2 1/2 hours during lunchtime. There were no serious injuries or damage.
Power authorities intend to compile a report in the next two weeks explaining what happened. They also plan a longer investigation to determine what can be done to prevent any further accidents.
Hmm. Let me know when they work that one out.