The Power Grid: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

Maybe you can make a specific team designed to repair the grid and call them the Power Rangers :)

“Don’t make your problem, my problem” is the most American attitude ever and the reason why we have so many unsolved issues today.

So apparently "DON'T TOUCH THE THERMOSTAT" is a father tradition since the invention of the device

This is kinda off topic, but that “home on electric” commercial finally explained my grandpa’s rabid insistence that no one touch the thermostat. It was a mystery I didn’t know I needed solving.

I will never understand how the US is spending a ridiculous amount of money on its defense but lets stuff like the electric infrastructure be this dated and prone to failures.

Ah, yes. I remember that famous JFK quote: "Ask me not what I can do for my country, because that shit ain't my problem, man."

Funny how oil companies don't have to jump through these legal hoops when they're cutting through Native reservations and federal land

My uncle was actually a police officer on duty inside a court room when lights went out once in outside of dallas, he said 'as soon as the lights went out, the guns came out'. Which, sounds like an overall fun night for everyone doesn't it?

"Mr. Johnson, would you mind letting us know your current salary?" "About a hundred seventy thousand a year, but why do you-" "What is the return of our investment?" "Well, the work I do in Congress to represent-" "I didn't ask what you do. I'm asking you what is the return of our investment?" "Well if you let me finish, the bills I've helped pass have-" "It's a simple question sir. Just say the number in dollars and cents. What is the return of our investment?"

The Iceland model 'Land of Giants' as power lines actually impressed me. Imagine seeing those huge statues all over the country, holding up our power lines, as if those giants are helping us keeping our world powered :O

‘While things are bad now, they could get a lot worse in the future.’ That should be this show’s motto.

I’m a Lineman In Canada and it’s all the same up here working on Transmission lines is also extremely dangerous wether it be high voltage, high tensions, or extreme heights people really take for granted the amount of work lineman actually do to keep the grid going literally at all times. One solution would be maybe to make trades jobs including power line technicians/lineman same same more noticed, more public recognition maybe. I’ve been in the line trade for many years now and all I can say is it’s very hard work but also extremely rewarding as well but also if you come out of your house because I turned your power off to do regular maintenance or if an external force turned your power off and I’m working sometimes 22 hours day and night to get it back and you come out and ask what the fuck is taking so long cuz you can’t watch fucken americas got talent I will be taking much longer afterwards.

"the man's pride of the house, the weather center" ah yes, the original 'hands off my thermostat' dad

As an electrical engineer that works on the power grid, it amazes me how old some of the equipment utilities still use. I am proud to be apart of the process to modernize our grid

Reminds me of the incident with two linemen from Comcast. One died and the other severely injured to the point of amputation. There was a fault in the pole that Comed knew about since the 60s and that day Comcast linemen were up there working it decided to fail completely and sent massive amounts of voltage through the guy in the bucket. The man at the bottom managed to call the police and was alive when they arrived, sadly he didn’t realize a line came down and activated the truck. He touched it and was shot across the street and burst into a ball of flames. State of Illinois jumped on Comed for that before Comcast could even get the team ready. We got to learn that during our safety training.

18:44 the ROI for me is that maybe my grandma won’t be without power for days on end like with the winter storm in Texas. My ROI is not having the lights flicker when you’re doing laundry, heating your home, and having a couple lights on at once. My ROI is knowing the nearest hospitals, which my area btw is closer to the outer edges of the city (almost to the boonies), won’t be without power needed to literally keep people alive. That’s a great ROI to me.

Holy shit, the “Land of Giants” idea for power transmissions is awesome. Imagine humans re-discovering those giant metal structures after an apocalypse. Or just wandering around tripping balls and seeing them for the first time.

"Return on investment" needs to start being chanted to defense contractors. "OK, I get you're selling these fighter jets for 52 million. What do Americans get out of this besides a fancy jet, and an excuse to kill people?"

The balloon explosion at the end was perfect and John's reaction was incredible. Thank you

My wife is from Japan, and we spend much of our life together there. Living in the northeast United States for a decade has turned her into somewhat of a prepper, even when we are in Japan. In the United States, totally justified by only a decade of experience, I keep my car’s tank full all hurricane season, but in Japan, the natural disaster capital of the world, any time one of about twenty-five annual typhoons is on the way, and even in the non-catastrophe season because earthquakes don’t have a season, we have a stockpile of cash, water, non-perishable food, electricity, and of course for me 🍺 Not once, ever, in my over twenty-five year span of experience, hundreds, perhaps thousands of earthquakes, using mainly mass transit, have we experienced even a brown out in Japan. At the most, the trains and buses weren’t on time for a change. ——— Slugs though, slugs are smug. ——— In the United States, we basically need a Johnny Appleseed of power generation.