Governors want power grid update

A bipartisan group of 18 governors are asking the federal government to take a serious look at updating the three main U.S. power grids.

A nation’s national security remains only as strong as its weakest link.

And you could make an argument that this country’s antiquated, patchwork system of supplying energy constitutes a direct threat to our vital interests.

That concern provided the catalyst for a bipartisan group of 18 governors, including Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, to ask the federal government to take a serious look at updating the three main United States power grids.

Improving connections at the seams of the eastern, western and Texasbased grids, the governors noted, would make the nation’s overall electrical power system, “more resilient, efficient, reliable, competitive, and less vulnerable to cyberattack.”

The coalition of governors relied on a recent National Renewable Energy Laboratory study that concluded a single American electric grid would make energy delivery significantly cheaper and could extend the reach of cleaner electricity sources, like wind and solar. One of the study’s options proposes building three high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) lines from the West Coast to the Mississippi River; that would connect the “seam” between grids that roughly follows the Rocky Mountains — with a spur running south into Florida.

Electric power could then be directed from the most efficient and affordable generation sites to population centers.

A companion study conducted by an Iowa State University economist found such a project in 15 years would result in more than 280,000 megawatts of new wind capacity, more than 121,000 megawatts of new solar capacity, almost 27,000 megawatts of new natural gas-fueled capacity and more than $40 billion in investment to the transmission system. Undertaking such a challenging task presents the type of infrastructure improvement that both Democrats and Republicans could support.

We all know the helpless feeling experienced when our power goes out for even a few hours.

Imagine if that occurred simultaneously across the entire nation?

And since we’ve already witnessed cyberattacks sponsored by hostile nations targeting our election process, the governors should insist the federal government pays particular attention to the potential of similar acts waged against our grid system.

According to a Council on Foreign Relations study, while such an attack would require months of planning, significant resources, and a broad range of expertise, it’s conceivable adversaries like North Korea, Iran, China and Russia could inflict such a national calamity.

We’re also concerned that promoting some sources of generating electricity over another appears to be one of the primary goals of this initiative.

The governors note that upgrading the national-grid system would facilitate the use of cleaner electricity sources, like wind and solar, while the Iowa State study projects producing significant additional wind and solar capacity, but only a minor increase in natural gas.

If the governors’ group truly seeks to make the national electric grid “more resilient, efficient, reliable, competitive,” how’s that accomplished by downplaying the role of natural gas, the most affordable and available source of power creation?

On the whole, this push to upgrade our nation’s electric grid system represents a necessary, long overdue correction that must be undertaken as a matter of national and economic security.

We all know the helpless feeling experienced when our power goes out. Imagine if that occurred across the entire nation?