The Deets

Ranty mentioned that The Healy House is now wind powered, as in, the power purchased from Xcel Energy comes from wind sources.

It’s a very simple process. Just call Xcel, work your way through their phone tree until you reach a human (that’s the toughest part), then tell them you’d like to join the WindSource program. Done.

You’ll be charged slightly more per month for wind power. In exchange, you’ll cut down on burning crap that gives kids asthma.

This got me thinking about where Xcel actually acquires the wind power they deliver. It’s not like there is a wind turbine on top of the IDS. Here is Xcel’s explanation of the current source:

The energy that supplies Windsource is 100 percent wind energy generated or purchased from Minnesota wind farms. A total of 19 wind turbines located in Pipestone and Dodge County in Minnesota currently supply the wind energy

Xcel Energy is also building a wind farm near Austin, MN.

What does it look like? Here’s a video of a wind farm in Pipestone. If you have your speakers on, this will very that it’s pretty darn windy out West:

For those of you who follow shoefiti as closely as I do (LOL) it should come as no surprise to hear that Newark, New Jersey has a shoefiti problem on their hands.

I had a chance to discuss New Jersey’s shoefiti issue with a reporter from The Star Ledger last week for an article that ran today. One of the things I tried to get across was that it doesn’t really matter why they ended up on the lines of people’s perception is negative:

Shoe mystery hangs over city - NJ.com

What counts most is how the community feels about the shoes.

“If the perception is people associate it with blight, it’s got to come down because people will feel less safe,” said Kohler.

One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced with getting shoes removed from powerlines locally has been dealing with Xcel Energy. As I understand it, they have a policy of “driver’s discretion” for dealing with items on powerlines that aren’t interfering with power. While that’s understandable, they way it’s applied is to remove shoes from lines in the nicer areas of Minneapolis while leaving them up in the tougher neighborhoods, thus inadvertently contributing to the blight of areas that need the most help.

Swap out Xcel Energy for Verizon to see how this applies in Newark:

Verizon doesn’t take the shoe issue as seriously as Waldrop. Rich Young, a spokesman, said the shoes are taken down if they are causing problems with the network, if they get a complaint or if a technician just happens to be working near an airborne pair.

“In general we do not send out technicians on patrol looking for sneakers,” said Young. “This is a problem all over the state. We would need a small army of technicians dedicated to shoe removal.”

The old, “Sure, they’re our lines, but we’re not responsible for them.” routine.

Flaming Power Outage in Longfellow, originally uploaded by edkohler.

The power went out around 10 minutes ago in Longfellow, so Carly and I set down our laptops and went for a walk to investigate.

We think this flaming phone pole at 32nd St E & 45th Ave S might have something to do with it.

Mary, the automated response lady at Xcel Energy, says power will be out for 4 hours. Carly said, “I don’t have four hours!” in response, so I guess she’s coffee shop bound in another neighborhood.

I got shushed along by a member of the MFD after snapping this exclusive footage for The Deets. If it blows up it leads on The Deets.