We believe it because “they” say so.
The power grid is actually a pretty high tech sophisticated system. Want proof? Think of the Enron engineered rolling black outs. With technology today, we are able to pinpoint outages and reroute power.
The next time someone tells you how vulnerable our power grid is ask them what we need to upgrade? More power generation? More wire? More switches? More substations? New technology? Nobody can answer that question because it's become cliche.
The Report Card for America's Infrastructure, prepared by the American Society of Civil Engineers, gives the US Electric Grid a rating of D. Its summary says the following:
The U.S. power transmission system is in urgent need of modernization. Growth in electricity demand and investment in new power plants has not been matched by investment in new transmission facilities. Maintenance expenditures have decreased 1% per year since 1992. Existing transmission facilities were not designed for the current level of demand, resulting in an increased number of "bottlenecks," which increase costs to consumers and elevate the risk of blackouts."
ERCOT in Texas is trying to put 3 billion into infrastructure upgrade.
/johnny
Can you say "Northeast Blackout" of 1965 and 2003?
>> What makes everyone think our power grid is so fragile? <<
How many spare transformers are in inventory? How long does it take to get them? Who makes them?
Please enlighten us.