What makes you think they’ll get this one right?
May 21st, 2007
Consolidated Edison, the power company in New York City, is planning to deploy a superconducting cable through Manhattan.
The headline for the article? “Attack-proof power line to be installed under NY”
Inside the article?
Superconducting cable must be cooled with liquid nitrogen to -382 degrees Fahrenheit (-230 Celsius). At that point, conductivity resistance falls, allowing the cables to carry the extra power.
Last July, ConEd left parts of Queens without power for over a week from overloading of feeder circuits. (see: wikipedia, Public Service Commission case study) There’s plenty to see about the chaos surrounding even figuring out what happened, and apparently ConEd came quite close to shutting off power for 100,000 more people.
Yeah… so I don’t have confidence in their ability to keep their cable at -382F. And how does something that has to be kept at -382F get labeled attack-proof? And when ConEd screws this one up, will they be sent to Guantanamo?
Entry Filed under: Businesses that Suck
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