IESO Voltage Reduction Test on Feb 7th

Author	All Replies
LazMan Premium join:2003-03-26 canada	IESO Voltage Reduction Test on Feb 7th So, if you get some weird voltage readings or your UPS or generator cut in on Feb 7th... It's not just you... »www.ieso.ca/imoweb/siteShared/vo···p?sid=bi There's going to be a voltage reduction test carried out by the Independent Electricity Service Operator... From 9am to 10am, a 3% reduction; and from 1pm to 2pm, a 5% reduction...
	to forum · permalink · 2012-01-31 09:58:27 ·

Guspaz Guspaz Premium,MVM join:2001-11-05 Montreal, QC kudos:16	Who are the IESO, and why/how are they messing with my voltage? -- Developer: Tomato/MLPPP, Linux/MLPPP, etc »fixppp.org
	to forum · permalink · 2012-01-31 10:29:56 ·
donoreo Premium join:2002-05-30 North York, ON	reply to LazMan I do not see the details on that linked page. Where did you get them?
	to forum · permalink · 2012-01-31 10:32:03 ·
Thane_Bitter join:2005-01-20 London	reply to LazMan That is a lot of screwing about just for a 2.54% overall reduction in power usage.
	to forum · permalink · 2012-01-31 10:32:06 ·
LazMan Premium join:2003-03-26 canada	reply to LazMan Should have specified Ontario only - so Guspaz, they aren't messing with YOUR voltage... »www.ieso.ca/imoweb/news/newsItem···mID=5945 Here's a link from IESO on the schedule (rather then the PDF I attached a moment ago...)
	to forum · permalink · 2012-01-31 10:38:15 ·
Oinktastic Let them use fibre join:2005-08-24 Scarborough kudos:2	I was going to complain, but on second thought, if my place ONLY got a 5% reduction in voltage, that would be better than normal!
	to forum · permalink · 2012-01-31 11:04:21 ·
nitzguy Premium join:2002-07-11 Sudbury, ON Reviews: ·TekSavvy DSL	reply to Thane_Bitter said by Thane_Bitter: That is a lot of screwing about just for a 2.54% overall reduction in power usage. On a 25,000MW day, that's 635MW taken away....I believe that's a big deal to the IESO .
	to forum · permalink · 2012-01-31 11:10:02 ·
J E F F Whatta Ya Think About Dat? Premium join:2004-04-01 Kitchener, ON Reviews: ·Rogers Hi-Speed ·Rogers Portable .. ·magicjack.com	said by nitzguy: said by Thane_Bitter: That is a lot of screwing about just for a 2.54% overall reduction in power usage. On a 25,000MW day, that's 635MW taken away....I believe that's a big deal to the IESO . I always wonder if that works like that. Wouldn't amperage drawn go up as voltage goes down? The city of Waterloo tried this once, I believe they did a 5% reduction, caused a lot of issues and didn't save any energy..except for electronic devices that got fried. (expect any CFL's, especially the pot type, to go haywire, they can't handle voltage much below 110) -- If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough. - Albert Einstein
	to forum · permalink · 2012-01-31 11:18:07 ·
Mashiki Balking The Enemy's Plans join:2002-02-04 Woodstock, ON	reply to LazMan Well that's good to know. If I suddenly start having UPS failing, I'll know why. This could be right down interesting, especially areas of the province that don't see 110-115v on a good day.
	to forum · permalink · 2012-01-31 11:31:31 ·
jfmezei Premium join:2007-01-03 Pointe-Claire, QC kudos:22 Reviews: ·ELECTRONICBOX	Back in the 1980s, Hydro Québec did similar tests. Remember that nominal voltage is about 117v and they dropped it to 108 I think. (but not sure). Already by then, people had concerns about computers, TV etc. Dropping voltage does help reduce consumption for incandescent, stove, clothes dryer and hot water heater (the later being the big tikcet item when it comes to power consumption). The tests had been meant to see if this technique could be used during periods of power shortages. I know that where I used to live, there were periods where voltage was about 100 volts. But this was more likely due to a faulty transformer.
	to forum · permalink · 2012-01-31 12:17:41 ·
bluebaron2 Stuff Happens Premium,Mod join:2001-02-01 North of 44 Host: Canadian Chat	reply to LazMan Relax. You've all lived successfully through many Voltage Reduction Tests, in fact you've gone through one about every year and a half all of your lives. (assuming of course you were born in North America and weren't raised in the back country off the Grid.) You will in all likelihood not even notice it while it's going on. And yes Guspaz Hydro Quebec does it too, it's a NERC requirement. Voltage Reduction is an emergency measure if an entity finds itself in an emergency energy shortfall. You would implement Voltage reductions before you would initiate Rotational Load Shedding. To be able to successfully implement an Emergency Voltage Reduction you have to practice doing it, to make sure your people are trained in the procedures and to confirm the equipment involved actually works as designed. So they practice it every year or so. That's all they are going to do. It's routine and pretty well invisible to most consumers. -- bb2 There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want. ~Bill Watterson
	to forum · permalink · 2012-01-31 12:54:41 ·
donoreo Premium join:2002-05-30 North York, ON	said by bluebaron2: Relax. You've all lived successfully through many Voltage Reduction Tests, in fact you've gone through one about every year and a half all of your lives. (assuming of course you were born in North America and weren't raised in the back country off the Grid.) Of course we have. I am sure the turbines slowed down during a shift change when a new guy came on to "turn the crank". My dad did that at both Pickering and Darlington Did I let slip that whole nuclear thing is scam? -- The irony of common sense, it is not that common. I cannot deny anything I did not say. A kitten dies every time someone uses "then" and "than" incorrectly. I mock people who give their children odd spelling of names.
	to forum · permalink · 2012-01-31 13:06:11 ·
highwire2007 join:2008-05-17 Nepean, ON Reviews: ·TekSavvy DSL	reply to LazMan I don't know why they are making such a big deal out of it. In the Ottawa suburb of Barrhaven, where many power failures are the norm rather than the exception, the voltage is all over the map. The nominal voltage is 118VAC RMS, but in the summer it's not uncommon for the voltage to be 107VAC RMS on warm days. Some days it's 128VAC. One day we had a weird failure with voltages of 28VAC - that's the day my furnace and A/C self destructed. In 2010, my UPSs averaged over a 100 "incident" alarms.
	to forum · permalink · 2012-01-31 13:08:15 ·
Wolfie00 My dog is an elitist Premium join:2005-03-12 kudos:4	said by highwire2007: I don't know why they are making such a big deal out of it ... ... In 2010, my UPSs averaged over a 100 "incident" alarms. It's not a big deal to anyone with UPS's in front of everything! What I worry about is sensitive equipment that isn't on a UPS, computers in particular. I wonder if it might induce stress that causes early failure later on, particularly with the larger voltage drop test. I really have no idea, to be honest, but it seems a reasonable question. And putting everything on a UPS can be an expensive proposition, because some PFC power supplies need pure sine-wave AC and you need a commercial-quality UPS for that. -- "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity" -- a corollary of Murphy's Law "A dog is like a child who never grows old ... always there to love and be loved" -- Aaron Katcher
	to forum · permalink · 2012-01-31 14:18:16 ·
Paolo Mr. Wireless join:2004-05-29 Canada	I want my hydro to be 120 V exactly.
	to forum · permalink · 2012-01-31 14:19:29 ·
pnjunction Teksavvy Extreme Premium join:2008-01-24 Toronto, ON kudos:1	reply to LazMan Computers aren't really all that 'sensitive'. A decent PSU with PFC doesn't care if it gets 90 or 264V (for example even budget Corsair units are specced for this range) and shouldn't fail or overvolt its outputs unless something really really nasty happens on the input.
	to forum · permalink · 2012-01-31 14:46:23 ·
donoreo Premium join:2002-05-30 North York, ON	said by pnjunction: Computers aren't really all that 'sensitive'. A decent PSU with PFC doesn't care if it gets 90 or 264V (for example even budget Corsair units are specced for this range) and shouldn't fail or overvolt its outputs unless something really really nasty happens on the input. True, the output from the PSU should not change. All of mine are on decent UPSs so I expect a few beeps that day -- The irony of common sense, it is not that common. I cannot deny anything I did not say. A kitten dies every time someone uses "then" and "than" incorrectly. I mock people who give their children odd spelling of names.
	to forum · permalink · 2012-01-31 14:49:13 ·
LazMan Premium join:2003-03-26 canada	reply to LazMan I'm expecting a ton of alarms, and probably generators to start, at least at one of my offices... No actual impact to loads, and the UPS (8 x 1.5MW systems) could easily compensate, but the building manager has the alarms and generator thresholds so tight it's insane... So when the 600V drops to 570, all 8 gennie's will start.
	to forum · permalink · 2012-01-31 14:53:49 ·
HiVolt Premium join:2000-12-28 Toronto, ON kudos:12	reply to LazMan I remember they did this a few years ago, it was during the summer too.. I don't remember by how much they cut off then... -- GO LEAFS GO!
	to forum · permalink · 2012-01-31 15:17:22 ·
HiVolt Premium join:2000-12-28 Toronto, ON kudos:12	Actually, it was in January as well, 6 years ago. »Re: Voltage Reduction Test Thursday - Ontario -- GO LEAFS GO!
	to forum · permalink · 2012-01-31 15:19:23 ·

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