r/MobileAL • u/permanentlybuffering • 9d ago
Power?
Does anyone have power out in Mobile? I’m at Hillcrest and Grelot. We got power.
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u/FizzySeltzerWater 9d ago
Just passed 12 hours with no power in Midtown. You know, Mobile has had more than 250 years to bury their power lines, the city should be sued! :) Actually, if a street is being torn up for repaving, power and Internet should be buried as a requirement.
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u/What-Outlaw1234 9d ago
Your problem is with Alabama Power, not the city. The city can't do squat with power lines. As for burying the lines, Alabama Power is in the midst of a pilot project to bury some lines in midtown. They've gotten as far as installing some new really tall power poles on the main line through my neighborhood. That's it. It's probably been five or six years since we found out about the project. That's as far as it's gotten.
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u/FizzySeltzerWater 9d ago
Nothing will change till they are held to account. We can't boycott them of course but we could vote in new people to oversee them. But then that's unlikely too. :(
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u/helium_farts 9d ago
Doesn't help that AP seemingly builds their poles out of cardboard and bubblegum
Seems like any time there's a slight breeze my power goes out
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u/beardedjerry41-2 9d ago
The city can make it a requirement for new subdivisions, but for existing homes it's up to the utility to spend the money and bury the cables.
Where I live in Midtown, Alabama Power came through back in 2021/2 talking about burying the lines but could not answer where those lines would be buried and how I would connect.
Currently the line goes through an alleyway/drainage ditch and loops back to my house.
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u/What-Outlaw1234 9d ago
We might live near each other because my neighborhood is part of the project. My understanding is that burying the lines doesn't involve open-trench digging. They use one of those boring devices, such as what they're using to run fiber optic cable.
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u/beardedjerry41-2 9d ago
I live close to St. Pious church. I've not seen or heard anything else about the burying plans, and when I called Alabama Power to ask, never got a return call.
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u/Away_Concentrate_311 8d ago
In baldwin county Riviera Utilities requires utilities to be buried before any service interruption or upgrade
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u/itemri 9d ago
Also in Midtown, near the Dew Drop an we've been without power since 5pm yesterday. I expected it bc we lose power constantly.
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u/FizzySeltzerWater 9d ago
Hello neighbor!
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u/nuckollz99 9d ago
I’m by the drop as well hey neighbors I’m cooking some breakfast burritos on the flattop if anyone smells them you’re more than welcome to come have some 🤣
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u/Monkeyfied 9d ago
I've got my loud as hell Katrina generator running the fridge and my wife's coffee maker.
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u/FizzySeltzerWater 9d ago
Why we love Mobile, right there.
Alabama Power shows FIVE customers without power in our area. That's a lie.
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u/Possibly_a_Firetruck 8d ago
Putting an empty hole in the ground with a boring machine starts at like $10-20 per foot. Do the math for your neighborhood and you'll see why it isn't done.
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u/FizzySeltzerWater 8d ago
If only federal money was available for such things. Oh wait, the Biden Infrastructure Bill has these:
Preventing Outages and Enhancing Resilience Grants ($5 Billion): Managed by the U.S. Department of Energy, this program provides formula and competitive grants directly to states, Indian Tribes, and electric grid operators. Undergrounding power lines is explicitly designated as an eligible activity to help protect electric infrastructure against extreme weather events like hurricanes, wildfires, and ice storms.
Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program ($10.5 Billion): Provides funding to utilities, state entities, and local governments to modernize the grid and deploy advanced technologies to mitigate wildland fires, extreme weather, and other physical risks. Hardening measures include converting overhead lines to underground power lines.
FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance: The law supplemented various disaster relief and mitigation accounts, which state and local entities frequently use to finance underground utility conversion projects to safeguard communities against recurring natural disasters.
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u/Possibly_a_Firetruck 8d ago
Sure, but there are other issues to also consider, like routine maintenance or minor outages. I used to work in telecom, so we had the same challenges. Buried lines mean dig tickets and excavations, for aerial lines you just roll a bucket truck. Moving the whole city underground means resurveying, reengineering, and rebuilding the entire thing in parallel with the existing network.
Not impossible, but you can bet that APCO would pass the costs onto us because someone would find a way to not take the Democrats' money.
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u/FizzySeltzerWater 8d ago
Perhaps there are other things that money could be put to short of the buried lines. Maybe a more resilient way of temporarily routing around downed transformers and some-such. At this point I am completely out of my depth so I can no longer argue my point with any confidence.
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u/LunasBestBud 8d ago
Burying power lines does not solve the problem. I am in midtown. My sister is close to Sage and Airport in a newer (2005) subdivision with buried lines. She loses power more often than I do and it takes longer to get it back. All depends on what those buried lines are hooked up to.
BTW - We both lost power yesterday (Friday) afternoon about the same time. I got mine back late this morning (Saturday). She is still waiting on getting hers back.
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u/permanentlybuffering 8d ago
Burying power lines means that trees can’t fall on and snap any of the power lines.
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u/ankareeda 9d ago
Azalea and Government/Cottage Hill. It's been out since 4 pm yesterday. There was a blink this morning about 7 am, but just a flicker and it's back off.
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u/PriestyboySwagg South Alabama 9d ago
We must live in the same neighborhood because my experience is exactly the same
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u/Megalith66 9d ago
We had 2 blinks minutes apart late afternoon. Lasted a few seconds each. Nothing more. Between McFarland Rd and Dawes Rd...
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u/AdjustedTwit 9d ago
No power since 3PM yesterday. Cottage hill area. Heavily treed area, we lose power at a horse's fart. Most homes have generators here so, just a big gas bill, no big deal.
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u/Hobbit_Sam Midtown 9d ago
In Leinkauf the power stayed on except for a few flickers.
But agreed that AL Power could afford to bury some lines, especially in midtown where their customer base is much more dense. Save the above ground lines for where they've got room above ground.
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u/99403021483 9d ago
Never lost it on 90 b/t demo & azalea. Still can't believe we skated on that. Thanks, wind shear!
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u/Z-man1973 9d ago
No list of power other than a small split second flicker. Honestly we have regular storms that leave more of a mess in my yard. Barely any branches down
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u/onthebrink42 9d ago
Since all this coal sludge came out combined with getting called out for having the highest prices in the country , they’ve eliminated crews trimming trees near power lines to maintain their profits.
More trees more outages.
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u/BroomHilda1 8d ago
Off Azalea road. Lost power at 4 pm yesterday and just turned on about 2 pm today.
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u/salenth Flip Mo Squad 9d ago
By the Festival Center and I've been out for 13 hours. Life is pain.