Need gas? You might have to wait

Few gas stations have generators - unlike in hurricane country

The area's gas pumps are idle - pending restoration of power.
The area's gas pumps are idle - pending restoration of power. — Howard Lipin

Find a gas station in a power outage

Faceback has a page to help find operable gas stations, where motorists can share information on which stations might be open. Check it out at this Facebook site.

Running outta gas and need a fillup?

David Hackett, an Irvine-based consultant to energy companies, agencies and investors, said you're out of luck.

That's because it takes electricity to operate today's high-tech service stations and, unlike in hurricane country, few have generators to fire up.

And it's not just pumps that need the juice.

The computer connections are down between the pumps and cashiers and credit card systems.

"Anybody that has a store has the same problem," he said. "You can't sell anything. The registers are all electronic --you can't run credit cards."

Once the power is restored, Hackett said stations will first have to restore communications lines.

"Many are connected by satellite to data hubs," he said. "The networks have got to come back as well."

Hackett did not advise motorists to siphon gas from one vehicle to another.

"Gasoline is very volatile," he said. "I don't like messing with gasoline, frankly."

Hackett said he lives 10 miles north of San Clemente where power also was out, so was not affected by the outage.; (619) 293-1286; Twitter: rmshowley; Facebook: SDUTshowley


