Having been caught in an ice storm in Maryland which killed the power for several days, I have to say they suck. Besides, you can't fault Canada for having worse weather then California.
On the contrary, Quebec has much better weather than California, although I will agree that California's tends to be hotter. The 1998 ice storm was a predictable once in a century event, although of course you can't predict when in the century it'll occur. The newer electrical distribution infrastructure wasn't damaged anywhere near as badly as the older stuff (newer was built stronger), but the likelihood of such a storm was low enough that it didn't seem worth hurrying along the upgrades. I'm sure this is a tradeoff with which all system managers can sympathize. -- John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com, Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner, http://iecc.com/johnl, Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail