Tuesday, February 8, 2011

NIagara Tunnel To Break Out Feb 26

All you monopoly tv studios, with your monopoly Internet, put this on your calendar.  The Niagara tunnel TBM has opened all stops, and is steaming ahead at 17 metres a day!  It's hardly ever done this!  That gives my estimate of Feb 26 for breakout into the receiving tunnel.  Is there an election coming?

My estimate of the total cost is still somewhere around 4 billion dollars, which is hidden in the old Ontario Hydro debt.  If they ever come out with an estimate of power from this, then we'll know exactly how much we are losing every year.  My suspicion is that we are not getting much extra power, since they can't really puff up the seismic-death-trap pumped storage.

My kids came home for Christmas and they blew my monthly Internet cap (Bell) of 75g, over 2 months because the holidays straddled the billing period.  Luckily (ha!) there is a max. surcharge of $30 per month.

Anyway, I expect our monopolists to cover this in a happy manner.  The tunnel is pretty, and if I look real close at their pictures, I can just begin to see the longitudinal cracking of rock squeeze!  (no, but it sounds nice, and that's why they would never let me in)

2 comments:

Harbles said...

Ah! You're back.
I was looking forward to your critique of the pamphlet the Govt. sent out (real nice pic of the Becky TBM in there) about why hydro rates were headed up.

Harold Asmis said...

Yes, it makes for a good poster child. I estimate the rate per kwh is more than my Internet overcharge. If the tunnel is totally useless, as I suspect (without extra pumped storage) then you divide by zero! :)