No Alert Rotating outages are not contemplated. Click here for a list of the next areas slated for blackouts. The SMUD Board of Directors has approved the utility's first rate increase in more than ten years. The 19 percent increase is blamed on higher prices for wholesale power and the natural gas. Oil Companies Seek Blackout Exemption for Refineries Hospitals and police stations are exempt from the rotating power outages, and now oil company executives are asking that refineries be added to the list.
Some critics take issue with the figure, saying it's too little to cover the soaring cost of power.
As the threat of summer blackouts looms, government officials are considering all options to keep the lights on. One of the more off beat plans would have used Navy ships to help help the lights on. But experts say those who take G.H.B. flirt with the drug's huge potential for addiction. A Newcastle family is picking up the pieces today, after a fire destroyed their home Thursday night. All of those inside the structure were able to escape unharmed.