The Proposed Sage Housing Development in Bruderheim

The proposed location, the 135 acres north of the Walker School sure is a wet place

"Welcome" to all our new members.  Thank you for joining our club.

By accident, I came across the following information:

MAXIM is proposing to construct and operate a 190 MW natural gas-fired power generation facility on a site immediately south of the existing Deerland high voltage substation in Bruderheim, Alberta. The company has obtained an option for the site and commenced a public consultation process on July 26, 2007. MAXIM anticipates that the first phase (95 MW) will be operational in 2009. The facility will use state-of-the-art combustion turbine technology.

Source: Maxim Power Corp. ("MAXIM") Announces Second Quarter 2007 Results
Marketwire, 2007 08 09

Read the full story.

 - MEETING OUR COMMITMENTS -
The process of delivering on our commitments has been arduous and I am pleased by the results achieved over the past few months. In 2006, we successfully executed on several main elements of our strategic plan:

....

 - Closed ERCO Worldwide's Bruderheim, Alberta, sodium chlorate facility, which removed 80,000 tonnes of capacity, balancing market conditions in North America and increasing the efficiency and competitiveness of ERCO's operations.

Full Story (off-site)

Weather conditions 2007 01 10, 09:30

Temp.: -14°C
Wind Speed: about 10 - 15kmh
Light snow
Visibility about 400m

The Bruderheim School is open, school buses are not running

For the past two days we were being prepared for today's snow storm. It had been announced as a blizzard. 

We have become accustomed to the inability of forecasters to accurately forecast weather conditions a day or more into the future.  As to be expected, as of this morning the weather conditions do not quite measure up to what had been predicted. 

Without a doubt, weather conditions are bad in most parts of northern, central and eastern Alberta, but they don't quite measure up to the conditions that make the current storm a blizzard. 

With the news announcers having been conditioned by their weather forecasters that this storm was to be a blizzard, the news announcers almost without exception keep on insisting that the current snow storm is a blizzard.  For most of Alberta the storm is bad, but it is not a blizzard.

Depending on location, specific standards apply for the conditions that must be met before a winter storm can be classified as a blizzard.  For Canada, the second one of the standards shown below applies.

	Precipitation	Visibility	Wind Speed	Temperature	Duration
1.) "A major consensus" (apparently in use in much of the US)	Snow or Ice	400m or less	56kmh or more		3 hrs or longer
2.) Environment Canada	Snow	1km or less	40kmh or more	-25°C or less	3 hrs or longer
(More at wikipedia.com)

Battle River REA is looking for housing for their staff who will be operating the Lamont maintenance centre.

Effective January 1, 2006, the Bruderheim REA will be amalgamated with Battle River REA.  Battle River REA is setting up a maintenance centre (south of Lamont) for trouble-shooting and constructing electrical distribution facilities in the rural areas near Bruderheim, Chipman, Fort Saskatchewan and Lamont.
   If you own a rural family home in these areas that you wish to rent to a lineman and his family, please call Battle River REA (toll-free, 24 hours a day, 1-877-428-3972) and let them know.

Did you ever wonder why weather forecasters bother to pretend that they can forecast the weather with an acceptable degree of accuracy more than one day into the future?  At times I compare the forecasts issued over time for a given day and find that any similarity between forecasts for a given day is purely accidental.

It appears that generally anything that the professional forecasters say about what will happen within the next eight hours is not too far off the mark, although it often appears that the forecasters are housed in windowless rooms that don't permit them to verify the accuracy of their statements regarding current conditions.

We had become used to seeing a few degrees difference between what the thermometer at the north side of our garage says and what the Weather Networks says the temperature is supposed to be in Bruderheim and always wonder whether their thermometer in Bruderheim is located near and right in front of someone's south-facing window.  However, today's temperature indications by the Weather Network take the cake.

Today at 5 a.m. our outside thermometer told us that it was -7.5°C (an accurate indication that anyone taking a step outside could easily verify), but the Weather Network indicated that it was +7°C.  It is supposed to warm up a bit today, and a couple of hours later, at 7 a.m., our thermometer indicated an outside temperature of +0.9°C, while then the Weather Network insisted that it was +5°C in Bruderheim.

It is not confidence-inspiring that the long-range forecasts by the Weather Network are a waste of ink and paper, but what are we to think of the Weather Network when it can't even come close to being accurate in telling us about current local conditions?

Update 2006 12 21, the first day of winter

Today, at 8:30 a.m., the Weather Network gave a temperature indication for Bruderheim that was even better, as far as aiming for excessive inaccuracy goes.  Their reading for Bruderheim was +1°C, while our outside thermometer at the north-side of our garage in Bruderheim provided the real temperature reading of -8.5°C.

A difference of 9.5°C between truth and fiction could be outright life-threatening for anyone who must dress for the weather.  What do you think?

Battle River REA is mailing out application forms for energy-purchase contracts to members of the Bruderheim and Chipman REAs.  The contracts offer electric energy at a price that is about two cents per kWh below the price those members are paying presently for energy offered under the regulated rate tariff.  The regulated rate tariff has been increasing every month lately, while the contract price offered by Battle River REA will be guaranteed to stay for one year at the rate of 6.9 cents per kWh.  That is a clear and substantial advantage and explains why the application forms for energy purchase contracts are in such great demand.  (Additional Details)