Re: Early warning system

[Sean Donelan <sean () donelan com>]

I should know better to ask a bunch of engineers if something is
a good idea, they immediately start problem solving instead of
considering if it should be done at all.

I think the power industry is similar to most other industries when
it comes to proactive notification of problems.  ISPs are bad at it,
airlines are bad at it, and the power industry is bad at it.  The
National Weather Service is the best, and they are correct only 50%
of the time :-)

Some power companies notify law enforcement in advance (a good idea
if you are really concerned about criminal activity), others don't.
Some notify large, important customers, others don't.  Some notify
the media, others don't. Some notify end-users, others don't.  The
City of Palo Alto has a web page, the City of Almeda phones end-users.
PG&E pages large customers.

Before doing anything, the first question which must be answered is

If you had advanced notification of (5 seconds, 60 seconds, 5 minutes,
etc) would it make a practical difference in what you do?

If the answer is yes, how much would it be worth to you, for how much
advance notice?