Power outage practice run

[The Heretic]

Puzzling that anything to do with your normal power would somehow cause your backup EM. lights to not function during a power outtage? Those lights should come on anytime the power is off if they're properly connected.

These are LED bulbs for conventional fixtures with backup batteries in them. When they have AC power from the fixture (e.g., a table lamp), they act like a ordinary bulb and they charge their batteries. When the power goes out they switch to their batteries and last 3-4 hours before become so dim they are not very useful.

They have circuitry of some sort that senses when a switch is put in the on or off position, whether there is grid power or not. So they act as if there is grid power even when there is no grid power.

Very convenient. I don't need to change my habits for entering a room and flipping on a light switch.

The only downside is that they only work in single bulb fixtures - not in any fixture that has more than one bulb (in which case they stay lit whether the switch is on or off).

Anyway, I can only assume that something about their switch sensing circuitry failed to sense the switch because of something different about the power outage source/cause. They have worked well in past power outages - even so much so that I didn't even notice one outage at first.

 

[The Heretic]

My power came back shortly before 11 PM

 

[The Heretic]

PP&L has asked for a 9.5% rate increase. No word on what the real increase will be. Watch BPA rates to resellers (PP&L, PGE, co-ops, etc.) to get an idea of increases to their costs, but there are other costs that change. For instance, PP&L is spending a lot on tree trimming, and is paying off a large judgement for damages from not trimming enough in the past.

PGE is up here on the mountain every year trimming, but most years we have at least one outage due to trees.