The United States Energy Grid and Solutions

As many Americans know energy isn’t something that is in short supply. Americans are very lucky because the access and amount of energy is at a high amount. Many countries are not as lucky as us. We bargain and purchase energy from other places as well. There is also a great profit for the country with the use of greenhouse gasses which are then used for energy. The problem is that the original plan of a National Power Grid may be failing.

The United States has something set up that is called an Energy Grid. The energy grid is a system of electricity production that is all interconnected throughout the nation. The source of it all is a power plant. That is where electricity is produced. Then it is transferred to something called a transformer. That is a larger version of a generator. This system takes the high voltage electricity and transfers it to a power substation that then it is converted. Once this step is completed it is ready to be distributed to residential, industrial, and commercial users. Like I stated earlier the U.S does a lot of trading and purchasing energy. The grid is consisted of three separate grids. The Texas grid, eastern and western grid.  Each grid buys and sells electricity. So the United States does more trading and selling within its own country. This is how the nation is able to receive their electricity. Because everyone is connected there is a threat of blackouts due to a power surge. If that were to happen then an entire area of the U.S could be out of power. The national grid is a very old structure, therefore it is slowly deteriorating. It is now up to the United States to figure out how to fix it, in order to continue the distribution of energy.

The fact that ‘Going Green” is such an influential topic these days, creates threats to the national grid. Why you would say? Well the grid runs on the burning of greenhouse gasses. In today’s world many are trying to slowly lean off the reliability of the gasses. Many people are using solar energy to power their houses. They are putting solar panels on their roof, which uses the suns energy to power their house. The more people stop using them, the worse it will be for the grid. The grid will eventually become extinct. The problem is that not everyone uses the green approach when it comes to powering their house, company etc… This means that the people who rely on the grid are going to have problems receiving electricity. Like I said in the previous paragraph the next step for the U.S is finding a solution before it gets to this point.

The scientist and green innovators have been working hard and it seems like they have come up with a possible solution. It is called a “Smart Grid”. What is a Smart Grid? You may think. A Smart Grid is a grid that will have transmission lines, transformers, and substitutions that work together to power the nation. It is a similar grid as the one we have now. The difference is that it is also digital. With the use of two way digital communication between customer and utility companies it can respond digitally to the needs of the public. There are many benefits of the smart grid. It will be able to transmit electricity more efficiently, there is going to be better security, the electricity will start quicker after distributed, prices are going to be lower, the peak demand will lower[ this means that the times in the day when energy it at its highest use it will be increased ] and renewable energy systems will be integrated into the system. Smart Grid is working to add more resiliency when it comes to weather. The winter can cause power outrageous and families are out of heat. Due to the digital aspect, it can reroute to a different allowing you to get energy from a different area while yours is being fixed. The grid will also be able to detect and outage without having to call the utility company. The grid will digitally detect it and will have it fixed before it spirals into a possible blackout. The goal is to use this grid and rerouting to power the medical centers, grocery, police station, and street lights during power outages. The smart grid will also be able to tell a customer on the house grid how much they are using and how much it is costing them, that way a family can regulate their use, due to financial needs. It looks like due to all of the pieces and technologies it will take about a decade for this to be perfected and put in use. However, it is slowly being used piece by piece. Finished and fully developed will be what we see ten years from now. It is very exciting and amazing to see how far we have come with technology. 

 

Sources:

"What Is the Smart Grid?" SmartGrid.gov:. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2013.

 

Martin, Chris, Mark Chediak, and Ken Wells. "Why the U.S Power Grid's Day Are Answered." Http://www.businessweek.com/articles. BloombergBuisnessWeek Technology, 22 Aug. 2013. Web. 18 Sept. 2013.

 

McQuade, Tim. "What Is the National Power Grid? | EHow." EHow. Demand Media, 26 Oct. 2010. Web. 18 Sept. 2013.