Showing posts with label Power outage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Power outage. Show all posts

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Venezuela, world’s No. 2 in oil reserves, goes dark - President claims sabotage

Venezuela, one of the top 10 oil exporters and No. 2 in proven crude reserves, went dark on Tuesday. The massive blackout hit parts of the capital, Caracas, and at least 11 of Venezuela’s 23 states — according to media reports, 70% of the country’s population was affected.

Traffic in Caracas snarled without traffic lights and people had to be evacuated from stalled underground trains. The military was called to keep order. The power was out at the building housing the Ministry of Energy and the state-controlled oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PdVSA.

One of Venezuela’s main transmission lines faltered, and power was out for about three hours before being gradually restored. The oil industry was not affected as oil refineries are powered by separate plants, the BBC reported.

In a series of tweets, President Nicolas Maduro blamed sabotage by the “extreme right” intent on making Venezuela unstable. Read more >>
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Thursday, May 24, 2012

Half of Detroit’s Streetlights May Go Out

English: Dinalupihan, Bataan during blackout o...
Detroit, whose 139 square miles contain 60 percent fewer residents than in 1950, will try to nudge them into a smaller living space by eliminating nearly half its streetlights.

As it is, 40 percent of the 88,000 streetlights are broken and the city, whose finances are to be overseen by an appointed board, can’t afford to fix them. Mayor Dave Bing’s plan would create an authority to borrow $160 million to upgrade and reduce the number of streetlights to 46,000. Maintenance would be contracted out, saving the city $10 million a year. 

Other U.S. cities have gone partially dark to save money, among them Colorado Springs; Santa Rosa, California; and Rockford, Illinois. Detroit’s plan goes further: It would leave sparsely populated swaths unlit in a community of 713,000 that covers more area than Boston, Buffalo and San Francisco combined. Vacant property and parks account for 37 square miles (96 square kilometers), according to city planners. Detroit’s dwindling income and property-tax revenue have required residents to endure unreliable buses and strained police services throughout the city. More...