Iguana causes outage for CUC’s West Bay customers

| 25/09/2014

(CNS): A large iguana coming into contact with the lines near the Hydesville Substation in West Bay Thursday morning cut power to CUC customers in the district and along the West Bay Road. Meanwhile, in Savannah and in Prospect pockets of customers experienced outages because of lightning blowing fuses. The iguana caused an interruption to service from 9:09am for around an hour with power being restored by 10:00am, a CUC spokesperson said. Customers in the Savannah and Prospect areas lost power at around 9:15am. The Savannah area was restored by 10:55 but crews were unable to restore power in Prospect until around 11:30am.

He explained that the bad weather also hindered crews trying to repair lines as the persistent lightning and heavy rains around the Island preventing them from working on the lines.

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  1. 4Cayman says:
    30/09/2014 at 12:36 am

    The big question is where is the agriculture department in this whole scheme of things? 

  2. Anonymous says:
    29/09/2014 at 12:00 am

    Get sum bbq sauce

  3. Boy says:
    27/09/2014 at 8:24 pm

    vote for me in the next election and I promise I'll kill the iguanas

  4. joker says:
    27/09/2014 at 2:13 am



    Start your own business and collect Iguanas. Sell the meat .. People will pay you to get them out of the yard.. Good Luck and Your Welcome …PS I have done a test run and it will work..

  5. Anonymous says:
    26/09/2014 at 10:20 pm

    Call it payback for all the cruelty you west bayers have caused to this beautiful animal. Remember lizard on a stick??

    • Anonymous says:
      30/09/2014 at 1:25 pm

      this comment really  proves that  you dont have anything to do or that your really board…..

  6. Anonymous says:
    26/09/2014 at 5:47 pm

    Our salutes go out to 'Sir Iggy' the green dude.  He gave his life that many residents in west bay and affected areas would see 10 minutes of relief in their CUC bills to come.  To that good sir, we salute you and your bravery to shutdown the 'man', even for some time.

  7. Anonymous says:
    26/09/2014 at 1:42 pm

    Seriously, if we can cull the lion fish why can't we do the same with these?  They are no positive contributions that I am aware of from these pest.  To the contrary there is an extensive list of reasons to get rid of them!

  8. Anonymous says:
    26/09/2014 at 11:42 am

    Cable and wireless used to say it was frogs in the DP :). Time to get rid of the green iguana

    • Anonymous says:
      27/09/2014 at 1:27 am

      See my response to poster below Capone. Seriously folks, as the " superior beings" on this planet, let's show a wee teensy tiny little bit of ummm, intelligence. Or not. Things will take of themselves. 

    • Anonymous says:
      27/09/2014 at 1:30 am

      Uhhh yeah. Cable and wireless. Real team leaders. 

  9. Anonymous says:
    26/09/2014 at 5:58 am

    Damn green tree rats are swarming this rock. When will CIG seriously declare war on these invasive pests and post a bounty on their heads?

    • Anonymous says:
      27/09/2014 at 1:23 am

      Take a chill pill dude. Ya wanna just eradicate every other living species just so you can watch your TV uninterrupted till you hang up your remote for good? Sheesh  

       

       

       

       

  10. Brain says:
    26/09/2014 at 2:14 am

    How is the iguana doing?

  11. Anonymous says:
    26/09/2014 at 1:07 am

    When are we going to cull the green dudes?

    • Anonymous says:
      26/09/2014 at 1:31 pm

      When there's smething strange, in the neighbourhood, who you going to call, Charles Ebanks!

      Charles "Nah Today Bobo" Ebanks can skin a iguana almost a fast as he can skin a conch, he is the man for the job.

    • Anonymous says:
      28/09/2014 at 8:31 pm

      Tell the Canadians they are mutant seal pups.  That will sort them out in hours.

  12. bearbaiter says:
    25/09/2014 at 9:43 pm

    I'll bet the iguana didn't fare any too well either!

  13. Anonymous says:
    25/09/2014 at 8:13 pm

    If the electricity poles were underground this third-world no sense wouldn't have ocurred in the first place!

    • Anonymous says:
      26/09/2014 at 4:30 pm

      Yip – digging up most of the roads across a flat, rocky, flood prone island to lay electric cables underground is a cheap, quick, and totally practical solution….

      Maybe some sort of barrier on the poles themselves (a couple of feet of slick metal collars the iguanas can't climb ,etc) may work better. 

    • Anonymous says:
      27/09/2014 at 1:19 am

      True dat. Time to dig a bunch of deeeeep skinny holes and get those 3rd world poles under ground. 

    • Anonymous says:
      28/09/2014 at 4:29 pm

      The iguana was burnt to a crisp!

      Are you sure u want them underground? Read below…

      Cost Differentials
      Whenever a major weather-related catastrophe occurs or land is being developed, the question of placing overhead power lines underground surges. The answer to the proverbial question, "Why can't overhead power lines be placed underground?" is, "They can be, but it's expensive."
      Higher initial construction costs. According to the May 2011 paper "Underground Electric Transmission Lines" published by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, "The estimated cost for constructing underground transmission lines ranges from 4 to 14 times more expensive than overhead lines of the same voltage and same distance. A typical new 69 kV overhead single-circuit transmission line costs approximately $285,000 per mile as opposed to $1.5 million per mile for a new 69 kV underground line (without the terminals). A new 138 kV overhead line costs approximately $390,000 per mile as opposed to $2 million per mile for underground (without the terminals)."
      These costs show a potential initial construction cost differential of more than five times for underground lines as opposed to overhead lines for construction in Wisconsin. Costs vary in other regions, but the relative difference between overhead and underground installation costs is similar from state to state.
      Technical improvements in cable technology, wire placement, conduit sizing, grounding methods, directional boring techniques and other aspects of undergrounding power lines have advanced the reliability of underground power. They have not lowered their initial construction costs significantly, however, which are mostly associated withtrenching through the earth along the entire line route.
      Maintenance costs. The present worth of the maintenance costs associated with underground lines is difficult to assess. Many variables are involved, and many assumptions are required to arrive at what would be a guess at best. Predicting the performance of an underground line is difficult, yet the maintenance costs associated with an underground line are significant and one of the major impediments to the more extensive use of underground construction. Major factors that impact the maintenance costs for underground transmission lines include:
      Cable repairs. Underground lines are better protected against weather and other conditions that can impact overhead lines, but they are susceptible to insulation deterioration because of the loading cycles the lines undergo during their lifetimes. As time passes, the cables' insulation weakens, which increases the potential for a line fault. If the cables are installed properly, this debilitating process can take years and might be avoided. If and when a fault occurs, however, the cost of finding its location, trenching, cable splicing, and re-embedment is sometimes five to 10 times more expensive than repairing a fault in an overhead line where the conductors are visible, readily accessible and easier to repair.
      In addition, easement agreements might require a utility to compensate property owners for disruption in their property use and for property damage caused by the repairs to the underground cables.
      Line outage durations. The durations of underground line outages vary widely depending on the operating voltage, site conditions, failure, material availability and experience of repair personnel. The typical repair duration of cross-linked polyethelene (XLPE), a solid dielectric type of underground cable, ranges from five to nine days. Outages are longer for lines that use other nonsolid dielectric underground cables such as high-pressure, gas-filled (HPGF) pipe-type cable, high-pressure, fluid-filled (HPFF) pipe-type cable, and self-contained, fluid-filled (SCFF)-type cable. In comparison, a fault or break in an overhead conductor usually can be located almost immediately and repaired within hours or a day or two at most.
      During the extended line outages required for underground line repairs, services to customers are disrupted. The length of customer outages can be mitigated using redundant feeders, but the duration of such outages is still longer than those associated with overhead lines, and they have additional costs associated with them.
      Line modifications. Overhead power lines are easily tapped, rerouted or modified to serve customers; underground lines are more difficult to modify after the cables have been installed. Such modifications to underground power lines are more expensive because of the inability to readily access lines or relocate sections of lines.
      For example, when a developer or homeowner requests electric service for a new home, if there's an overhead distribution line nearby, the service connection can be designed, constructed and made available for connection to the new home in a relatively short time. Service drops to new residences can be installed within a day or two after the service request is submitted to the utility.
      If the utility is requested to provide underground service to the new home, however, the design and construction will take up to a week or two. This time differential increases the cost for ­underground power.
      Who Pays?
      As the additional construction time, specialty cable costs and excavation costs continue to increase, the issue of who bears these differential costs remains unsolved. Typically the differential costs for new distribution services are paid by the developer according to a regulated tariff. The developer may then pass those costs to home buyers who purchase propertyfed by underground power lines. For example, in an Orlando, Fla., neighborhood, each home buyer must pay an additional $15,000 as his or her share of the costs for underground power service.
      For transmission lines, it is difficult to determine how to allocate the differential costs associated with placing them underground to a specific developer, customer class or individual customer. These costs typically are absorbed by utilities, and if allowed by the regulatory agencies, the costs are included in the utilities' rate bases. Regulatory agencies usually do not allow utilities to differentiate between underground and overhead services in their rates. Service rates must be the same for each customer classification regardless how the service is provided.
  14. Cheese Face says:
    25/09/2014 at 8:04 pm

    First it was the French, now the Hondurans?

  15. Anonymous says:
    25/09/2014 at 7:22 pm

    Is the iguana okay?

  16. Anonymous says:
    25/09/2014 at 6:42 pm

    CNS – is the Iguana OK or feeling a little frazzled by the experience? 😉

  17. Anonymous says:
    25/09/2014 at 6:31 pm

    you must be joking.

     

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