Free Republic

Conservation: The Chevy Volt is said to be able to get 230 miles per gallon. That's if it's continually plugged into a fragile and overburdened power grid. Where will you be when the lights go out? Since most U.S. electricity generation is not carbon-free, the Congressional Research Service agrees. The "widespread adoption of plug-in hybrid vehicles through 2030 may have only a small effect on, and might actually increase, carbon emissions," it observes. "If you are using coal-fired power plants and half the country's electricity comes from coal powered plants, are you just trading one greenhouse gas emitter for another?"...

Electromagnetic pulse is hardly a household term. But perhaps it should be. Every computer we buy, every system we turn over to computer control, every device that relies on electronic components — all cars, TVs and phones, for instance — makes us more vulnerable to such a high-energy rain of electrons. EMP is a powerful and potentially devastating form of electromagnetic "fallout." It’s usually associated with nuclear weapons, although it can be triggered by any major explosive bursts. Unlike radioactive fallout, this rain won’t directly harm living things. It will just catastrophically fry all electronics and modern electrical systems by...

As Scientific American’s George Musser knows, installing solar panels on your roof is a lot easier – and cheaper – said than done. Now, if a Colorado power company has its way, solar aficionados are going to have to start shelling out even more dough to be hooked into the power grid. Xcel Energy has proposed charging a new fee to customers who install solar systems after April 2010, the Denver Post reports. The fee would be linked to the home’s electricity consumption and help the company maintain its aging power grid. Solar customers already foot the bill for installing...

Amidst all the congressional to-ing and fro-ing associated with the President's controversial health care, cap-and-trade and "hate crimes" initiatives, it would be easy for most legislators to overlook a hearing the House Homeland Security Committee has scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. If Congress fails to address the subject of that hearing, however, it literally will not matter whether the government addresses any of those other, disproportionately prominent agenda items. The title of the hearing - "Securing the Modern Electric Grid from Physical and Cyber Attacks" - fails to communicate the magnitude of the danger, and the imperative for urgent corrective action....

Increasing reliance on renewable energy from wind and solar farms might not necessarily mean the construction of thousands of new transmission towers stretching across the American landscape. Cold Cables (American Superconductor Inc.) That’s because of a technology called superconducting cable, that could be the recipient of federal assistance that would speed its deployment. Superconducting cable has for at least two decades struggled to prove its mettle and win big utility contracts from the power industry, which is notoriously slow to adopt new technology. But the technology won a powerful friend this week when House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s introduced on...

U.S. concerns about the potential for cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure extended to the American electrical power grid on Wednesday and experts pointed the finger anew at Chinese hackers, among others. As a result, electric utilities are likely to face new pressures from the U.S. Congress and government regulators to tighten security and preparations against computer intrusions that would wreak widespread havoc. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told reporters the power grid is vulnerable to potentially disabling computer attacks, while declining to comment on reports that an intrusion had taken place. "The vulnerability is something that the Department of Homeland...

WASHINGTON -- Cyberspies have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system, according to current and former national-security officials. The spies came from China, Russia and other countries, these officials said, and were believed to be on a mission to navigate the U.S. electrical system and its controls. The intruders haven't sought to damage the power grid or other key infrastructure, but officials warned they could try during a crisis or war. "The Chinese have attempted to map our infrastructure, such as the electrical grid," said a senior intelligence official....

Tenn. lab tests superconductor power cables for Manhattan, part of Homeland Security project A high-tech power cable designed to prevent rolling blackouts caused by everything from a wayward squirrel to terrorists is being readied for New York City's financial district. Now undergoing final tests at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the superconductor cable to be installed in Manhattan next year could prove key to the smart, secure, super grid of the future. Scientists fired 60,000 amps through a cable during a critical test Tuesday -- an electrical jolt comparable to turning on the air conditioning in 2,000 homes at the...

Congressional leaders pushing to modernize the nation’s electrical transmission system on Monday signaled they want to put the federal government in control of decisions normally left to state authorities, from regulating electrical rates to deciding where to place power lines and poles. “Many states have already begun to adopt innovative policies to move toward more clean, efficient transmission systems,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. “But what we need is a national framework for planning, developing and financing transmission infrastructure.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he would propose giving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission the authority to trump...

One again, a hurricane hits. Once again, transformers detonate in fire and sparks by the hundreds or thousands? preparedness 101 basics: SHUT DOWN THE POWER GRID BEFORE THE HURRICANE HITS. kiss: keep it simple, stupid. How much faster and less costly restoring power would be without the requirement to replace blown transformers? Get this up into the decision network. Regards, kendwell

AN ARCHITECT has been jailed for at least 15 years after becoming the first person convicted of planning a terrorist attack on Australian soil. Faheem Khalid Lodhi was today jailed for a maximum term of 20 years for acting in preparation for a terrorist attack. He sat quietly in the dock as Justice Anthony Whealy told the NSW Supreme Court Lodhi had intended to "advance violent giant jihad" in Australia. Lodhi, who was born in Pakistan but has Australian citizenship, had pleaded not guilty to all charges. Justice Whealy said the attack, if carried out, "would instil terror into members...

HAVANA - President Fidel Castro announced a long-awaited renovation of Cuba's energy system to combat blackouts that have afflicted the island nation for the past two summers. Castro said Cuba would decentralize its power system, gradually replacing five massive thermoelectric plants with smaller, regional plants supplemented by solar and wind power. He outlined the plan in a speech delivered Tuesday night and published Wednesday in state newspapers. Because the thermoelectrical plants in Cuba are so large, mechanical difficulties in any one can affect large areas populated by millions of people. Many of last summer's blackouts were caused by problems at...

A report published nearly six months before the historic U.S.-Canadian power outage warned the nation's electric grid and other "critical infrastructure" is vulnerable to cyber-attack by terrorists. The report, issued Feb. 21 by the Congressional Research Service, advised "industries potentially affected by a cyber-attack on industrial control systems include the electrical, telephone, water, chemical and energy sectors." [Editor's note: You must have Adobe Acrobat to view the above .pdf file.] The report takes on new relevance following the Aug. 14 power outage throughout a wide swath of the Northeast. The cause is still under investigation, but a London-based Arabic newspaper...

<p>Within hours of the lights going out in New York, Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton was blaming President Bush for the power failure. While the rest of us thought Mr. Bush was in California visiting a military base, she spotted him in Akron, Ohio, turning out the warning lights at the FirstEnergy facility there.</p>

August 14, 2003 Statement from the Department of Energy WASHINGTON, DC -- The Department of Energy, coordinated by Deputy Secretary Kyle McSlarrow, has initiated its protocol for contingency situations.  DOE is working with appropriate agencies including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as well as entities such as the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) to assess the situation. Media Contact(s): Jeanne Lopatto, 202-586-4940 Corry Schiermeyer, 202-586-5806 Number: R-03-182 http://www.energy.gov/engine/content.do?PUBLIC_ID=13991&BT_CODE=PR_PRESSRELEASES&TT_CODE=PRESSRELEASE *** No. 03-102 August 14, 2003 NRC MONITORING SITUATION INVOLVING MULTIPLE NUCLEAR PLANTS...