Power failures damaging local computers

Yukon Energy needs to know how much it hurts to deal with continuing power outages that cause grief for senior citizens, says a Whitehorse senior.

Yukon Energy needs to know how much it hurts to deal with continuing power outages that cause grief for senior citizens, says a Whitehorse senior.

In an interview with the Star this morning, the woman emphasized the financial problems it can create for people like her. She has now lost two computers this year because of power blackouts, despite having them equipped with surge protectors.

She’s certain there are others in the same boat who’ve had electrical equipment damaged by power failures, and can’t afford to replace or repair the equipment.

“Needless to say, I am upset.”

She said her phone calls to the two providers of electricity have not been returned.

“I phone Yukon Energy, and they say it was Yukon Electrical,” said the local resident, preferring to remain anonymous. “I phone Yukon Electrical and they say it was Yukon Energy.

“So not only do I get the run-around; I didn’t get any satisfaction.”

The latest failure, at Yukon Energy’s Aishihik hydro plant at 2:30 p.m. Monday, blacked out the entire Whitehorse-Aishihik-Faro grid for more than an hour in some places, and for at least half an hour in most areas.

It was the ninth “major” outage of the year for Yukon Energy, the publicly owned corporation has confirmed.

Yukon Energy spokeswoman Janet Patterson explained by e-mail this morning the problem was with a connecting cable at the Aishihik plant.

The plant was off-line for just over 24 hours, forcing Yukon Energy to fire up its Whitehorse diesel plant.

The problem area was bypassed and Aishihik was operational again at 5:29 p.m. Tuesday, and the Whitehorse diesels were turned off 20 minutes later.

Computer repair technician Trevor Merritt said today power outages are hard on computers and related equipment.

Back in Ontario, he and his colleagues used to watch the weather patterns. When considerable lightning was in the air, his company would order a range of new parts because everybody knew they were going to get busy.

Up here, it’s the same with power outages, he said. And it’s been busy since Monday’s massive failure.

Even computer gear covered by surge protectors can be damaged by power outages or fluctuations, said Merritt, who is Polarcom’s manager of corporate clientele and dispatch.

“Power outages are good for business, bad for customers.”

If you’re home when the power goes out, Merritt advises, it’s best to unplug your computer until after the power comes back on.

There are also varying qualities to surge protection equipment, costing very little to several thousands of dollars to protect an entire household, Merritt pointed out.

For $25, he said, his company has a protector that does a pretty good job.

Merritt said a surge protector with a built-in backup battery is a good bang for the buck, in the neighbourhood of about $125. The backup battery maintains power to the computer until it can tell the computer a power outage has occurred, and that it should shut itself down, Merritt explained.

He said Polarcom has a number of corporate clients who were also affected by Monday’s power outage.

Rick Karp, president of the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce, told the Star Tuesday that blackouts do have a real and significant impact on the business community, particularly the small and medium-sized business.

And it was not just the half-hour or longer that the lights were out Monday, he noted, adding the power failure knocked out cable Internet services for better than two hours. For those few hours, he said, many retailers had no ability to process debit or credit card transactions.

Karp suggested that with the frequency of interruptions over the last couple of months, perhaps it’s time the service provider bring in somebody to go over the system with a fine-toothed comb.

Yukon Energy and Yukon Electrical, he said, are guaranteed a profit margin as a public utility company.

With the guarantee, however, comes the obligation and responsibility to ensure they have the ability and equipment to provide consistent and reliable power, Karp said.

Patterson said Yukon Energy has a maintenance schedule that is consistent with industry standards, though the corporation will now be reviewing it to see if it can be beefed up.

The corporation also maintains a list of spending priorities for capital projects, and is going over that list today because of the frequency of outages over the last couple of months, she said.

“What Yukon Energy is doing this afternoon actually is sitting down and looking at that list to determine what needs to be moved up and what we can afford to move down.”

Patterson said consumers do have the responsibility to ensure their equipment is properly protected, emphasizing the quality of surge protectors does vary.

She also pointed out when Yukon Energy receives a complaint, regardless of the cause of the power outage - whether it was Yukon Energy’s generating system, as it was Monday, or Yukon Electrical’s distribution system - it’s forced to direct the call to Yukon Electrical.

In most Yukon communities, consumers are Yukon Electrical customers. That’s because Yukon Electrical buys the power from Yukon Energy and then sells it back to the customers on its distribution system.

Patterson said by the law that governs public utilities, Yukon Energy cannot engage in conversations with customers of Yukon Electrical.

Also under the law is a provision guaranteeing Yukon Energy and Yukon Electrical cannot be held financially responsible for damage caused by a failure in their systems, she said.

She said only where an employee was negligent in his or her duties can an issue of liability be raised.