Power Companies and Home Solar Producers

Perhaps focus an inquiry to SDGE as to why a properly designed and installed transfer switch fails to address their concerns. For the time being, skip the politics and bombast.

I'm sorry that you speak of the operation of the electrical grid with such frustration and anger. However, it is operational realities of the grid that dictate how it is restored or maintained in a severe condition such as 2012, NOT utility greed or government oppression.

When you understand the magnitude of the power flows, you can see that it is impossible to keep the small, distributed generators on line when something like this happens. They just have too little capacity to supply the whole load, so they are automatically shut down (it's called "anti-islanding" in the business) to keep them from being overwhelmed by the demand and do even more damage.

US utilities actually do a great job keeping the power flowing compared to other countries around the world. We generally have electricity 24/7, in almost any condition, within parameters that allow our electrical appliances to operate reliably. The few times that some disaster happens, utilities do a tremendous job of working to restore power, as evidenced by the Hurricane Sandy incident (don't believe the hoopla that the media and the state govt made - there were hundreds of utility trucks and thousands of line and station workers from many utilities on the ground almost immediately to start assessment and repairs - it was just such a broad area, so uncertain where exactly it would hit, and devastating in its severity).

If you are upset about utility costs, that is a management issue, and a financial one. Much of the utility infrastructure construction took place in the 1950s, 60s, and into the 70s. The 80s and 90s saw a lot of restructuring, utilities being sold & merged, and little investment in maintenance and new construction, as they tried to bleed $ out for their investors. Now in the 2000s, it caught up on them and there is a huge amount of effort and capital going into replacements and improvements, all the while there is greater push for reliability and the customers are demanding ever more power for their eleoctronic devices. The grid always needs to be designed and operated for the maximum amount of power that could be drawn, even if customers are not using it at that instant.

So before you go into a huge consipracy theory, first try to find out how the grid operates and you will understand why they can't do what you suggest all over the place.

Disclaimer: I don't work directly for a utility, but am a contractor who does a lot of engineering for major utilities. I have been working in this field for 20+ years, and have seen firsthand how the utilities operate in daily action. I don't always agree with their management, but the actual operation of the grid is some of the best in the world. You should be happy that your lights are on and your A/C working when you want it to be - there are many people in the world who don't have it so convenient.