Have your digital clocks been speeding up the time lately? Don’t worry you don’t need to contact an appliance repairman — it’s the result of the backup power source that PG&E is using to keep the lights on in Quincy.
Bill Martin, a board member of the American Valley Community Services District, shared that tip after learning more about PG&E’s replacement for the power lines that burned in the Feather River Canyon.
“Though some people have noticed their electric clocks that don’t operate normally with exact time, I’m told there is no voltage drop that could affect electrically-driven equipment like compressors and refrigerators,” Martin said.
The fluctuations are coming from the local diesel generators utility company installed with a total capacity of 10 megawatts at full load.
The “60 line” out of Caribou in the Feather River Canyon (that normally feeds the area) has been burned over and will eventually be replaced. It used to feed the Quincy area and served as a pass-through primary feed for Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Co-op going southeast from town. PSREC has long since disconnected during this fire emergency and is being fed by by Nevada Power and from local generation in Susanville.
“The ‘secondary transmission’ lines are about 14,000 volts and are what have always fed us electricity, so we are living a normal existence,” Martin said. Generators are being used to feed power to Quincy after the PG&E transmission lines were destroyed in the Feather River Canyon. Rather than the top cables, power is now running through the lower wires. Photo by Bill Martin
Generators are being used to feed power to Quincy after the PG&E transmission lines were destroyed in the Feather River Canyon. Rather than the top cables, power is now running through the lower wires. Photo by Bill Martin
