Power Outages

[Freesaw]

We had the first power outage of the 'winter' today. I was pleasantly surprised when I called the toll free number toreport it and heard a recording that gave a complete rundown of where the outages were and then advise that if I pressed '1' I could actually speak to a human being. Maybe with the rates we are paying will come some customer service after all.

[cakadu]

Heard about some nasty gale force winds and freezing rain up in your neck of the woods emrald. Out west too. Blew out just as fast as it blew in.

Glad to hear that the power companies are doing something for the money that they charge us. As for customer service - well, I think it isn't going to be what serves the customer - it is what will serve the company's bottom line best. I wonder if these companies ever consider that the population is aging and having to press this and press that is becoming more of a problem for some of them.

My own pet peeve is when they have a menu of numbers to push for various types of service and you don't really know what it falls under. Press the wrong number and they've got you going on the merry-go-round again. It sure would be nice to phone someone and get an actual real live voice.

[cakadu]

Linda, an acquaintance of mine is a major consultant to Fortis, and I chatted with him recently about the frustration I have encountered over the summer with lengthy power outages and the inability to speak to a PERSON! I told him that in a power outage on a farm or in rural Alberta people don't just have their coffee pot and lights to worry about, some have electricity that is vital in heated barns etc,. and in the winter of course we all have our stock waterers to think of not to mention keeping ourselves warm !
My advice for him to pass on to Fortis was that in the event of a power outage having a person to answer questions, and advise if possible about the time before the power would be restored would be very helpful to the companies rural clients.

I agree with you that the maze of instructions and buttons you are required to push and the waiting time on hold is confusing and certainly not user friendly to anyone, much less our older folks. Epcor and Telus are just pathetic when it comes to client service. I have waited for half an hour to speak to a customer service rep when calling in to Telus. I do like companies that advise of the approximate waiting time, at least I know how the wait will be.
Our local gas co-op has just hired a firm to do their billing,so I suppose we are just one step away from having a zillion choices of buttons to push when we call the local co-op office.

[cakadu]

forgot to mention in the previous message that our winds subsided yesterday afternoon but by last night were gale force again. There is a smattering of snow on the ground this morning but the AMA road report indicates that the highways are in good driving condition, which is fine with me as I have to leave for Edmonton at 5:30 AM.

[cowman]

I get power from the REA and we hardly ever have a power outage. If you phone you get a real person, not a machine!
On another topic: I was up to see the new bio gas plant at Highland feeders at Vegreville last week. Pretty impressive...to say the least! They are in the process of getting it up and running.
The first phase is complete and cost just under $8 million dollars(a lot of research dollars)! They have a payback of seven years.
The V20 engine/generator is really something(price...$900,000)!
Highland feeders intends to build two more cells this year. The owners are very progressive types at this 36,000 head feedlot. They intend to make the waste into pellets and use the waste heat for either a greenhouse or ethanol production. If you ever get the chance, it is really interesting to see this high tech, very well planned plant.

[cowman]

These biogas initiatives are certainly thinking outside the box but are very difficult to bankroll without research dollars I have toured the Iron Creek Colony biodigester and was very impressed by it, this technology is certainly going in the right direction, both for power generation and for lessening the impact on neighbours from odors associated with manure spreading from large feeding operations. Hopefully they be come less costly as the technology improves and smaller scale operations can afford to add them to their operations.

[cowman]

emerald: The Iron Creek facility is a model T compared to the Highland Feeders "cadillac"! The prices are atrocious but still Highland expects a 7 year payoff period! In other words they expect a $1.1 million per year net profit from this one cell alone(the plant cost $7.9 million)! They expect the next two cells to come in at around $3 million each with a similar capacity to earn money!
The three cells will use the manure from only 20,000 animals, so they will still have quite a bit of raw manure for their silage land. At the end of the 7 year period they will be generating over $3 million dollars of electricity...free and clear! Now I would suspect that might add to the bottom line of feeding cattle?
The whole trick here is not government money(although it definitely helps), but the willingness of an entrepreneur to take a chance and lay his money down! Vern and Mike have taken that risk and will reap the benifit...or loss!
It would be helpful if people realized that this whole idea of banding together in co-ops or unions or whatever, really doesn't work? We need bold individuals to roll the dice and take a chance...in my humble opinion.

[cowman]

cowman, I agree, but very few producers are in the position position to roll the dice and build a facility such as the one at Highland. I wonder how much research funding went into that project ? Large scale hog operations may be able to justify the up front costs but I am only aware of one that currently has a biodigester in place.