PESWiki.com -- Pure Energy Systems Wiki: Finding and facilitating breakthrough clean energy technologies.

Donations to PES are needed and greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Directory:Electrical Grid Vulnerability

Directory of information regarding electrical grid vulnerability issues.

Grid Vulnerability

Grid > Vulnerability to Solar Flares >
Power Grid Braces for Sun Storms - A solar storm that reaches Earth could knock out communications, scramble GPS, and leave thousands without power for weeks to months. The tempest can create extra electrical currents in Earth's magnetosphere. The electrical power grid is particularly vulnerable to these extra currents, which can infiltrate high-voltage transmission lines, causing transformers to overheat and possibly burn out. (National Geographic; August 3, 2011)

Feature: Grid / EMP / U.S._Govt. and_Energy >
Remedies for Grid Vulnerabilities to Solar Flares - If a blast like the Carrington Event of 1859 occurred again, we could see 100 million people out of electricity for a couple years. However, installing 'surge protection' for the power grid would not be that expensive or difficult – especially when contrasted with the expense of unprotected components failing. A call to action. (PESWiki; July 16, 2010)

Featured: Solar > Coronal Mass Ejections > Grid > Emergency Preparedness >
Two Suns in the Bible - In the scripture that talks about "the day that cometh shall burn them up" in Malachi, the next verse talks about the "Sun of righteousness" arising "with healing in his wings." Alphabetics provides some insight on this passage, and its ramifications for solar energy. (GreaterThings and BeforeItsNews; January 23, 2011)

Grid > Vulnerability > Copper >
Copper thieves target highway light wiring, costing taxpayers thousands - Thieves cut the wire at the junction box at the base of each of the light poles, then they tie the wire to the bumper of a truck, take off and rip the wire right out of the ground. They stole 7,000 feet of wire that weighed about 300 pounds and is valued at $17,000. (Deseret News; January 8, 2012) [Another reason for distributed energy solutions.]

Emergency Preparedness / Grid Vulnerability >
Yellowstone Supervolcano Getting Ready To Blow Its Cork (Within a few 100,000 years) - Be sure to watch the video links at the end of the story. It's a BBC dramatized documentary done in 2008, which is very well done in portraying the relevant facts and the ramifications if something like this were to unfold -- arguing for energy sources not dependent on the sun or air (subjected to ash). (BeforeItsNews; July 13, 2011)

Featured: Emergency Preparedness / Grid >
An Energy Man's Experience with the Alabama Tornado - One of our regular writers, Paul Noel, gives first hand descriptions of what it is like coming out of the massive tornadoes that recently ravaged several states: high power lines laying across roads, towers yanked out of the ground. He also describes the humanity of people helping each other recover. (PESN; May 2, 2011)

Grid / EVs > Recharging Stations >
Power suppliers thrilled, worried about electric cars - The first mass-market electric cars go on sale next month, and the nation's electric utilities couldn't be more thrilled — or worried. Surge in demand could knock out power to a home or a neighborhood. (MSNBC; November 22, 2010)

Feature: Emergency Preparedness / Grid / Hybrid Vehicles >
Priuses power house during 24-hour grid outage in Washington DC - A family in D.C. was able to power all their essential equipment, including two refrigerators and lights; and a lot more, including their TV, computer, some cooling fans, and a cell phone battery; by attaching 1000-Watt inverters to their two Toyota Priuses in their garage, using ~1/2 gallon of fuel per hour. (PESN; July 19, 2010)

Featured: Electrical Grid >
Peak Loading of the Grid Poses Another Peak Crisis - The economy isn't the only woe the U.S. faces. It's grid is also in dire straights due to its pending inability to meet peak load. Meanwhile, off-peak lulls, presently largely wasted, are enough to power our vehicles. (PESN; Feb. 22, 2009)

The Matrix Overloaded: Clean Energy Will Depend on a New, 'Smart' Grid - The current electric grid has two basic shortcomings. It's not big enough to accommodate all the new electricity and it's not flexible enough to handle the inconsistencies of renewable energy, which is less steady than the workhorses of coal and natural gas; the wind doesn't always blow, and the sun doesn't always shine. (Wall Street Journal; Oct. 24, 2008)

Extra water, wind strain Northwest power grid - The Northwest is awash in electric power this spring. Rivers are swollen. Columbia River dams are running full bore. Wind farm blades are spinning. "If you have electricity but no one needs it, sometimes you have to pay someone to take it." (The Oregonian; June 27, 2008)

US Video Shows Hacker Hit on Power Grid - A government video shows the potential destruction caused by hackers seizing control of a crucial part of the U.S. electrical grid: an industrial turbine spinning wildly out of control until it becomes a smoking hulk and power shuts down. (PhysOrg; Sept. 27, 2007)

Avantis - "You’re in the midst of a world-class power struggle - a decisive fight to streamline processes, reduce costs, and manage assets better to come out on top. Whether you are maintaining Generating or T&D assets, Avantis is the only asset management solution that can reduce risk of implementation with pre-defined work processes and best practices. Avantis, today’s most effective enterprise asset management solution, is specifically tailored to help power companies do more with less - one already proven across the globe and one guaranteed to help you:
- Gain a competitive advantage
- Achieve regulatory compliance
- Reduce forced outages
- Improve work processes
- Reduce safety and environmental incidents"

Electric Power Industry Technology Scenarios - Report by the Electric Power Research Institute looks at various future scenarios of the U.S. electrical grid. (ZPEnergy; Dec. 28, 2005)

Near repeat of massive 2003 blackout last month - Ontario and large areas of the United States were about 20 seconds away from being plunged into darkness on May 27, according to American union officials. (CTV, Canada; June 22, 2005)

Ill-fated squirrel leaves thousands without electricity - It might sound a little nutty, but the sudden loss of electricity to 13,000 customers on a sweltering day was caused by a squirrel that got into a substation, shorting out circuits. (Brockton Enterprise, Massachusetts; Sept. 1, 2004)

[This kind of thing happens all the time. Reported here as a sampling.]

UniSource Energy Services Offering Solar Incentives - U.S. energy supplier offering rebate for installations, and gives customer's a chance to add $2.00 to their bill to support green energy. (EnergyInfoSource; Aug. 18, 2005)

Lifeline for Renewable Power - Without a radically expanded and smarter electrical grid, wind and solar will remain niche power sources. (MIT Technology Review; Jan.-Feb. 2009)

Wind Energy Bumps Into Power Grid’s Limits - Maple Ridge Wind farm cost $320 million to put nearly 200 wind turbines in upstate New York, but at times, regional electric lines have been so congested, that Maple Ridge has been forced to shut down, even with a brisk wind blowing. (Slashdot) (New York Times; Aug. 26, 2008)