Tag Archive: Energy


Survey Stakes

The Hydro authority has been busy with the construction of a third 500 kilovolt line to the lower mainland from t the Revelstoke dam. lost in the shuffle has been a relatively minor additional line  to the Highland Valley from the Merritt Substation. The huge Teck corporation open-pit moly and copper mine is there and has been having its mill expanded.

The line to a substation in the Highland valley will replace an existing one that follows Voght street in Merritt now. The line in the 60 thousand volt range  will be replaced with a 130 thousand volt range line.

It was also planned that a cogeneration plant from a local saw mill burning green wood waste would add to the electrical production going to the Highland valley.

There is no word on the cogeneration project however on the weekend it was observed that the survey stakes have been placed for the new branch line. The new line follows the Coquihalla highway 5 north for away then heads to the Highland valley. survey stakes go right through Extra foods and Coyote bluffs residential development to the Merritt substation site that is currently being upgraded.

The line also follows an existing  just outrside Merritt Telus fiber line and comes close to a high pressure pipeline to Burnaby before veering off north of Saunders field  the local airstrip outside Merritt city limits.

The province has put up signs saying that BC has 95 percent green energy at at least one EV charging site.

Today in history: January 27th 1961

The Soviet submarine S-80 sinks with all hands.

Fortis BC

Gas Natural

Gas Natural (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Fortis BC utility people were here working on one of their isolation valves this week. The technician said that natural gas is sniffed for in residential areas once every 5 years for leaks, 1 yr in commercial areas.

Natural gas is odorless and colorless so the utility adds chemicals to make it smell like rotten eggs.

Editors note: it is not to be confused with Carbon mon oxide which is poisonous and a by-product of burning fuel. natural gas can cause suffocation by displacing oxygen.

For safety concerns:http://www.fortisbc.com/Safety/Pages/default.aspx

Today in history: December 13th 1979

The Canadian government of Joe Clark is defeated in a confidence vote bringing the 1980 election and Pierre Trudeau back.

$1.27.9

Merit of Merritt

Its good that it is friday….

The price of gasoline has dropped once again as the Petro Canada station  at the junction of 5A, 97C and highway 8 is selling regular gas at $1.27.9 down one cent a liter from last week.

A motorist was queried about his use of the premium grade gasoline at a shell outlet this week ” My new taurus requires it” ” I don’t get the power or mileage with the lower grades.” The man said, he also related experience in the trucking industry in the US.

Today in History: November 8th 1895

An experiment with electricity leads to the discovery of X rays

Another chargeing station

Some electric vehicle buffs were at the Voght street charge station  and told us that there is another recent addition to the grid here in Merritt BC, Ca. This one is up the hill in the new area of highway development and about the big box stores.

Sun country sells chargers and accessories from home to commercial. They range from 25 amp to 90 amp. A source says that the 10 minute chargers in Texas  can hurt the battery in your car if used regularly.

There seems to be a preference for the 90 amp charger on Voght street here in Merritt.

An adapter to the proprietary Sun country charger was in use here this week at the Vought street charger by a Sun Country rep  ” its proprietary like apple” he said.

 

 

Today in History: June 26th 1974

The first UPC code is scanned on a package of Wrigleys Gum

4rth charging station

There is another charging station  here in Merritt for electric cars its located behind the Civic center off the sidewalk on a residential faced street.With  no over head pole and power coming from an underground service connection the unit looks neat and tight.

All four of the charging stations are within a block of each other and a person who used the one in the parking arena parking lot was pleased that the farmers market was going on at the same time as: ” there will be people around and we can leave it to charge while we go golfing”.Another user said he enjoyed use of the indoor public pool that is within a block of the charger while he waited the 2 hrs for a full charge. There are two chargers in the City Hall proper parking lot as well.

Chargers can be located on a smart phone app.

Today in History: June 3 ,1979

A blowout in the southern gulf of Mexico causes 3 million barrels of oil to be spilled into the waters, this was the second worst oil spill ever recorded.

Consumer knowledge

We talked to a young man this week who was driving a 16 passenger Van. When asked why not an electric or hybrid he said he researched it and the cost of the battery replacement was prohibitive. We said 5 years and the battery at 2 figures would need to be replaced.

When we talked to a person driving a pick-up that was electric with a 1.6 liter charging motor the fellow said 12 years , the former fellow admitted that 5 years was low-end when asked to comment on that. When asked if there was a residual value to used batteries he was not able to comment.

A charging station is in Merritt and has yet to be seen being used other then by official electric vehicles , the announcement of Tim Hortons and free retail outlets is not a subject on the minds of people here today.

Today in history: February, 20 1942

Phil Esposito Canadian hockey star is born.

TGIF

 

English: A Reva i/G-Wiz charging in London, be...

English: A Reva i/G-Wiz charging in London, between Covent Garden and the Strand. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

yes try as you might…..

Charging station in use: The charging station to accommodate electric vehicle quick charges was seen to be in use this week, here in Merritt BC

A car with BC Hydro markings was using the single outlet on Voght street.

The out let allows for a 4 hour charge that may get  the user up to about 85 kilometers of driving. An overnight charge on regular 120 volt at home will produce the same thing.

The station has been noticeably not in use for the months it has been here.There is talk of other being added soon, this may make it more attractive for use. The stations are GPS enabled for smart billing technologies.

Today in history: September 28,2008

The Falcon 1 is the first private space craft in space.

 

Curb to curb

The water and sewer upgrade on 1st avenue is now being paved over. Curb to curb asphalt is being rolled out today and that is an improvement over the street when it was tore up last year.

The City of Merritt has the Civic Center a facility that has a main auditorium that can accommodate about 500 people. As well there are ancillary meeting rooms are available at varying rates the best rates are reserved for non profits tha ideal with youth issues. The highest rate is for commercial activity. It is a popular venue for an annual home show. The show takes up the facility and is well attended by business here and from other communities. The local arts counsel makes good use of it and has at least 4 quality programs a year. For the benefit of all but in particular an amenity for those that have chosen Merritt for retirement .

The Civic Center is also now enjoying curb to curb pavement on the vacating street to the west of  the building.

Today in history, April 12. 1955

The polio vaccine developed by Dr.Salk is declared safe and effective.

Smart meters

Elster A3 ALPHA type A30 single-phase kWh smar...

Image via Wikipedia

The  provincial hydro authority is going to be installing smart meters around the province. This will give them the ability to better manage power. As well the customer will also be able to do the same .No word on the thought that there will be two rates, one for off-peak and one for on. There was a proposal for an energy project that took water out of our own Nicola Lake and stored it till peak usage time. The marriage is more than obvious and we will be listening for the re-emergence of that project here in the future.

The local library has a meter for you to borrow to test where you are using your power the smart meter will build on that principle.

Today in History, October 17,2010

Mary Mckillop is canonized to be the first Saint of Australia.

Two Dollar Gas

Battle of the Bulge

Image via Wikipedia

Two dollar gas, the Republican Presidential Nomination debates last evening brought up the specter of 2 dollar gas.  The overwhelmingly free market responders looked at it as if they were deprived children looking through the glass of a candy store. Is it realistic , to expect it again? We say yes that relative cheap energy , energy that is  readily available  to meet all demand is  most desirable and the thing that the Governments should have the most influence over as all the other issues  are tied to its success.

We think of the reason that free markets exist today as when totalitarian forces  went to  repel the  forces of democracy  they had the equipment , the men, and the tanks but not the  gas the Battle of the Bulge stalled as tanks stalled and Nazis  tankers walked away from them.It would be a shame not to employ all the smarts of the people and science of the US into achieving and sustaining that ability to reach relatively cheap energy. For those that sacrificed so much .

Today in history, September 8,1991

The Republic of Macedonia becomes independent.