Four Powercuts in the last 8 months
By ronaldinu
@ronaldinu (12422)
Malta
April 3, 2010 3:49am CST
We have experienced four power cuts in the last eight months. Darkness disrupted the local Good Friday processions as the statues proceeded in the streets in total darkness except the candle lights or gas lights. It only lasted about three hours. The fault was fixed later on and electricity was restored. The reason is that although we have two power stations, one of them that should have been scrapped long ago is still functioning while a relatively new one, is not catering for the increasing demand of the whole population. We have boilers which are 30 years old. I read an article, and the author with a sense of humour wrote that the Maltese are the only people in the world who get to know the power stations boilers on a first name basis. An extension is planned soon, hopefully it will solve the current situation. Others have suggested to make connection with Italian power stations, something which is being studied, and if viable it will be done.
Yesterday I had enough light to read some pages of a book that I am currently reading. I realised how much I am dependent on electricity, to watch television, use the internet. I wonder how my grandparents used to live without electricity.
What is your country relying on? Nuclear Energy? Solar Energy? Have you experienced any power cuts lately? What do you do when you are in total darkness?
1 person likes this
14 responses
@cobrateacher (8432)
• United States
3 Apr 10
Hi, Ronaldinu!
In the US, we have some of everything, and it's never enough. The president has OK'd offshore drilling for oil in the last couple of days, and we shore-dwellers are horrified!
I think realistic ways to harvest the energy of the sun and the wind will be the only thing that will really help. Too many still consider such things to be gimmicks, but they do work, and help the environment. They also seldom have any of the problems that cause blackouts!
1 person likes this
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
3 Apr 10
I do have a solar water heater and it does save on the electricity bill. Malta is a small island of wind and sun so I do believe that we should exploit these natural resources more.
2 people like this
@cobrateacher (8432)
• United States
4 Apr 10
More of these resources should be used everywhere. They're sustainable, efficient and virtually cost-free. Done on a large scale, they're certainly cost-efficient. Our reliance on fossil fuels has done enough damage, and should be halted! Unfortunately, the enormous companies that make fortunes from it block more sensible solutions, as do the countries whose economies are based on oil!
1 person likes this
@eshaan (6188)
• India
3 Apr 10
you are in much better situation friend....here in India, some places have powercut for 6 hours a day...at my place too its 2 hours daily and it is in the morning 6.30 to 8.30....these days as children are having holiday ..so no problems...we just get up late...but when there are working days...i keep their school uniforms ready at night...so that they are easily visible in the morning 
...also i keep my mobile below my pillow ...so that when i get up i dont get stumble over something....we have got used to it...we have electricity from hydroelectric plants...and the shortage is due to uneven rainfall these days ...environment disturbance...has caused the problem more severe....i am in urban area...rural areas have still miserable condition 
...also i keep my mobile below my pillow ...so that when i get up i dont get stumble over something....we have got used to it...we have electricity from hydroelectric plants...and the shortage is due to uneven rainfall these days ...environment disturbance...has caused the problem more severe....i am in urban area...rural areas have still miserable condition 1 person likes this
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
3 Apr 10
Hi eshaan thanks for your reply. is there any solution for your country's situation? I am complaining about our power cut but having six hours electricity cut off on a regular basis is too much.
1 person likes this
@eshaan (6188)
• India
3 Apr 10
yes..ronaldinu..its like that and people have to face this problem....i don't know in detail about the solution...as i am not aware of the resources available for the generation of electricity....even politics etc play a vital role in all this...but what common people know is that there is shortage of water and so they have to face this problem...
1 person likes this
@kun2349 (23381)
• Singapore
5 Apr 10
Solar energy?? NAh, it's gonna be too expensive for the entire country to be depending on it!! Right now, those using solar energy are those private sectors, and they have to pay out of own pockets!! haha =D
Thus our country here is still relying on power stations for energy, electricity etc.. hehe ^_^ It's been a long time sicne we last experience a total power failure.. SO far when it happens, power will be restored back within 30min-1 hr latest.. hehe
And in the dark, basically there's nothing much we can do, but to wait.. lol =D
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
5 Apr 10
Hi kun that is one of the solar energy shortcomings. The government is trying to subsides the solar energy water heaters and more people are investing in this technology.
1 person likes this
@Opal26 (17679)
• United States
3 Apr 10
Hey ronaldinu~ I am sorry to hear that you are having these
power problems. I have heard this from people from all different
countries lately. I think they do this in India alot too. So
far here in the US we haven't had that problem yet. But, since
we usually have our main electrical outages in the Summer when
it's extremely hot I can't say yet what might happen this coming
Summer. We are just starting Spring and heading into the warmer
months so who knows what is ahead of us! I do hope that your
country is able to get this fixed soon. I do know how we have
become so dependent of electric power and how scary it is to
have to do without it. My main concern usually is about keeping
the food fresh in the refrigerator! That is a loss of money if
the food goes bad. The others are not pleasant, but can be
dealt with, although not pleasantly!
1 person likes this
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
4 Apr 10
Unfortunately Malta's main income is tourism. It could damage our reputation in international shores. So I really hope that the extension of the new power station is done quickly. Education of alternative energy seems to be way forward.
@saphrina (31552)
• South Africa
3 Apr 10
We had a problem last year. Luckily nothing so far this year. But they really let us pay enough to build a new ''powerstation.'' And as i know these lot, it will probably take them about thirty years. One powercut this year and all hell will definately break loose. We are more than sick and tired of little people who do not understand how anything works. Hope your problems will be solved soon. TATA.
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
3 Apr 10
Hi saphrina, luckily our powercut lasted only a few hours yesterday. Hopefully we wont experience another one for long years. I hope that you won't experience such thing in your country.
1 person likes this
@ashwinsasi (286)
• India
3 Apr 10
I live in Kerala , India.Here we call it Load Shedding,not power cut.In peak hours the electricity will be not available in every area for half an hour during some months.There are many undeclared power cuts too.Today also we had no electricity in the morning for three hours.Load shedding is decided depending on rains as we are more dependent on Hydro Power.The water stored in dams are used to run turbines for generating power.
Governments in our state is not interested to increase power generation to meet future requirements.Even if the Govt. is ready,the environmentalists and corruption make sure that nothing succeed here.
The Govt.of India has taken strong steps to go Nuclear to generate more power to cope with the demand...
1 person likes this
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
3 Apr 10
do you think that nuclear energy is the way forward? Are you afraid of nuclear energy because of it repercussions?
1 person likes this
@ashwinsasi (286)
• India
3 Apr 10
We should try all options available .There is nothing wrong in going Nuclear.We always discuss the negatives of Nuclear power generation.There are a lot of positives too.
1 person likes this
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
3 Apr 10
Hi Ronald
Lucky enough this does not happen often here, but it did last year before Christmas and the Power was gone for 24 hours, I was really cheesed of by the time it came back
I had no heat lights or anything and it was freezing outside, so I curled up on the Settee with a Hot Water Bottle (I was able to use the Gas Cooker to boil Water) a big Blanket and stayed warm that way
I hope I never have to go through that again
Is there nothing they can do where you are to stop these Power Cuts all the time?
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
3 Apr 10
Investing in a new power station extension is the solution. It is in the pipelines and I do hope that it will solve the problem once and for all. Thanks for your feedback.
1 person likes this
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
7 Apr 10
In the little town I live in, we have been so lucky (knock on wood), everyone around us has experienced rolling black outs or downed power lines, etc. for a long period of time. We've had a few minutes or a couple of hours at the most. But many people have had days without power, some during our cold winter.
Someone from India wrote that they didn't have enough power so there were planned days where section after section would go without power so the others would have power. California is very overpopulated and they have brown outs (too many air conditioners on in the summer and it causes strain on the systems). Depending on where you are, there are many different kinds of power in my country. Every kind you can think of is somewhere in the USA. We don't have much geothermal like countries with lots of underground heat sources, but we do have wind, water, etc. I don't like nuclear. Up here, where I live there is a lot of wind and natural gas. They also use a lot of water power from Hydro-Quebec even though we're in the USA.
@Sreekala (34312)
• India
3 Apr 10
Hi ronald,
Here the temperature is rising day by day and now 40C is going on
. Yesterday night at 9.30 PM we got complete darkness for half an hour. The season’s first power cut, I think. Now it may be a common thing in the coming days as in summer we are facing power failures more often. Sometime the in middle of a deep sleep the power failure wakes up us and that may be the worst situation. Kids will starts crying in the whole colony due to heat when power failures happen. Now this is also a part of our life, we have to face it.
. Yesterday night at 9.30 PM we got complete darkness for half an hour. The season’s first power cut, I think. Now it may be a common thing in the coming days as in summer we are facing power failures more often. Sometime the in middle of a deep sleep the power failure wakes up us and that may be the worst situation. Kids will starts crying in the whole colony due to heat when power failures happen. Now this is also a part of our life, we have to face it. 1 person likes this
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
3 Apr 10
During the last twenty years there was an improvement in the standard of living. Having an air condition is not longer considered a luxury as most household have to bear the summer heat in our island.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
3 Apr 10
Sorry to hear about your power troubles. I lost power for 4 days two years ago due to hurricane winds--most unusual for them to come this far north and inland! My mother was visiting at the time and we read books, played cards, chatted and generally had a good time. I found some faults in my emergency plans, mainly that I needed some way to cook food! I got very tired of cold canned beans and tuna! I have since got a small stove and a lot of fuel for it.
Here in the U.S. we rely on coal and hydro-electricity, for the most part. Our environmental crazies fight any plans to make nuclear power plants even though countries like France do very well with them.
I have since got a small stove and a lot of fuel for it.
Here in the U.S. we rely on coal and hydro-electricity, for the most part. Our environmental crazies fight any plans to make nuclear power plants even though countries like France do very well with them.1 person likes this
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
3 Apr 10
I have visited a nuclear power plant in UK and it seems pretty safe. If it is well maintained there is nothing to worry about. It is a clean energy as well.
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
4 Apr 10
hi ronaldinu I live in the US and in California and in the summer we often have brownouts and are all asked to conserve power and cut back on using air conditioners etc. we do not have a lot of power outages but it does happen mostly in the hotter months when everyone is using air conditioners at the same time. we do have only one nuclear plant that I know of its here in Ca. San Onof
re power plant, some of the p;eople around this neighborhood are using solar energy. In total darkness its candles and flashlights but we do not have long power outages at least here in California. good discussion.
re power plant, some of the p;eople around this neighborhood are using solar energy. In total darkness its candles and flashlights but we do not have long power outages at least here in California. good discussion.@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
4 Apr 10
Malta is a sunny island so yes... we should exploit alternative energy as the sun and the wind. I am glad that you don't experience such outages like I have been doing lately.
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
4 Apr 10
Power cuts are pretty rare here ,mostly due to bad weather. We rely on oil far too much...
@vanitasuri (343)
• India
3 Apr 10
Hi,
U are lucky that u had only 4 power cuts in last eight months. In our part of country i.e. North India, power cuts are very common especially in summers. During this period, the power cuts are of approx. 12 hours in Punjab. But in Chandigarh, the place where I live, power cuts are of very short duration and as we have installed inverters at home, these short power cuts do not trouble us much.
1 person likes this
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
3 Apr 10
Hi vanitasuri, what do you do when you experience such frequent power cuts? How do you pass your time?
1 person likes this
@1anurag1 (3576)
• India
3 Apr 10
my country is relying on each kind of option. it is not considering more the nuclear energy as this can generate low cost energy
but in my country there is almost daily power cut. may be the time span is low.
but they are frequent. and the things you have encountered. we could be happy in this state. lol.
1 person likes this
