Book Club Study Guide

With the excitement coming out in advance of the launch party, the publisher has received many requests for a study guide to help with book club discussions

Westwold station

Woodpole box structure

This woodpole structure could be assembled by line crews. The standards for this have been designated obsolete since the 1970's.  Modern versions look similar but use steel structures.

Selkirk Substation

Station service transformer

This transformer is cozy in the snow. This transformer provides station service power (power used internally by the station) in a large grid station.

Selkirk Station

Frozen 230kV bus in February

The beauty of this buswork was the inspiration for a Christmas story. 

Selkirk Substation

Control cabinets for a 500kV live tank breaker

There are lots of wires in here!

Cheekeye Substation

Control cabinets for a 500kV live tank breaker

There are lots of wires in here!

Selkirk Substation

Enjoy the snow!

Hard hats are always cold!

Sandspit Generating Station

Even generating stations have switchyards

This was recently replaced with two small transportable buildings.

Kennedy Capacitor Station

The entire capacitor is energized at 500kv

This is a series connected capacitor, so 500kv goes in and 500kv comes out, just phase shifted. This capacitance effectively cancels out part of the line inductance.

Questions for Book Clubs

Here are some good discussion questions for your next boook club meeting. The numbering is important.

Consider the answer for these:


Question 1
Twenty Modern-Day Proverbs
  Fake news travels fast.   Post in haste, regret immediately.   Two's company, three's a crowdsourcing campaign.   Al for an eye, an untruth for a truth.   Beware of geeks bearing gifs.   Caesar's Wi-Fi must be above suspicion.   A scrolling phone gathers no moss.   Share and share and like.   Don't feed the troll that bites you.    Empty influencers make the most noise.    Every blog has its day.    An army of sheep led by a lion would defeat an army of lions led by a sheep.    There's a time and podcast for everything.    Do not judge clickbait by its cover:    A WhatsApp a day keeps your mother at bay.    All's well that trends well.    Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to phish and you pheed him for a lifetime.    Every cloud has a data centre.    Spam tomorrow and spam yesterday - and always spam today.    The end justifies the memes.
Which is not a true modern day proverb

Question 2
What is the Insulation level on BCH 138kv system?  

Question 3
Last year there was a similar game. In the 2024 Christmas quiz, what one fact stood out as true in all the low quality facts?

Question 4
What is the primary function of a circuit breaker in a substation?
A) To protect against overloads and short-circuits B) To regulate voltage levels C) To match voltages for safe transmission D) To provide electrical power to consumers

Question5
 Choose the best answer: What is the primary function of a transformer oil in a substation?
A) To cool electrical components B) To lubricate moving parts C) To insulate against electrical shock D) To protect against lightning strikes

Question 6
What type of station is Guichon station? 

Question 7
What is the maximum ambient temperature that most of BC Hydro s equipment is designed to operate in.  

Question 8
Aside from the orphanage, power going to a particular store is very important.  what important faculty is being referred to? 

Question 9
How many High Voltage Direct Current transmission systems are part of the BC Hydro grid?

Question 10
How far apart are your feet when step voltage is being calculated with the method of IEEE 80?

Question 11
How many phases are in a three phase four wire system?

Question 12
While on a site visit to an energized station to scavenge some copper cable outside the station gate, Grant plugged in an extension cord to power his electric cutters.  Why did Tess smack him?

Question 13
What is the closest substation to this house? 

Question 14
What is the closest electric transmission line to this house?

Question 15
Why does Will Fajber need a sit stand desk?

Question 16
In the opinion of Will Fajber, which is the best substation?

Question 17
During a lightning storm, Grant was worried about being outside in the substation switchyard in case he was struck by lightning? Was Grant right to be worried? Yes or no 

Question 18
Grant teased Tess, “what is a switchyard ? Is it just a yard full of switches?”  What does Tess reply?

Question 19
What is the sum of the number of underground substations and the number of underground power stations that BC Hydro has?