Bold investment needed for grid
Nation’s electric system should emphasize efficiency, security and sustainability
There may be no better time than now to talk about the pressing need for substantial investment in the nation’s electric system, particularly the importance of grid modernization.
A system primarily constructed 60-70 years ago cannot be expected to meet the modern demands of a 21st century First World nation. The urgency of making our energy system more efficient, more resilient and more sustainable is undeniable.
Indeed, the evidence is everywhere and squarely in the spotlight now.
The humanitarian disaster in Texas can be blamed on many factors, and many people, but frigid temperatures were the primary culprit. An electric generation and distribution system ill prepared for cold weather predictably failed when it arrived.
Last week it was Texans who suffered. But in the past, Californians have been victims when wildfires sparked by overheated power lines laid waste to their communities. The Northeast blackout of 2003 affected 45 million Americans and 10 million Canadians; it began when an overloaded wire touched an overhanging tree branch in a town outside of Cleveland, Ohio.
Hurricanes pose the primary threat in Hampton Roads, a concern shared all along the East Coast and throughout the Gulf Coast. These storms will be more powerful, frequent and destructive if seas continue to warm, as they are projected to do without substantial reductions in global emissions.
We must dramatically alter our approach to energy to adapt to a rapidly changing climate. But it’s not simply the expansion of renewable fuel and the reduction of carbon power, but modernization of the grid to emphasize efficiency (and thus reduce energy consumption).
And that means meeting changing consumer demands caused by a changing climate. Warmer summers require additional energy to power air conditioners. Colder winters will necessitate better protection (read: winterization) of critical infrastructure.
In Virginia, Dominion Power has taken steps to bolster efficiency through its 2019 grid transformation initiative, but ran afoul of state regulators, who concluded parts of its plan did not offer sufficient benefit for consumers for the cost those consumers would incur.
Modernization shouldn’t neglect measures to better protect the grid from conventional and cyberattacks, as there’s a national security concern that must be considered.
A 2013 report by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission found that a coordinated attack against just nine of the country’s 55,000 electric-transmission substations could create a nationwide blackout. It could be months before power is restored to some parts of the country.
Online attacks against key infrastructure, including electric systems, may well be the future of warfare, and a battlefield where smaller nations and stateless actors can inflict tremendous harm. Law enforcement in Florida this month described a plot that saw hackers access the network of a municipal water system to manipulate the levels of lye in the drinking water.
President Joe Biden and numerous members of Congress from both parties have endorsed the idea of bold investment to repair the nation’s crumbling infrastructure. And all of America got a good look last week at the human cost of continued inaction, though too many have seen similar things in their communities.
In 2017, the American Society of Civil Engineers graded the nation’s electric system a D+, noting, “more than 640,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines in the lower 48 states’ power grids are at full capacity.”
A new ASCE report card comes out in March, but don’t expect to see the grid receive higher marks. Precious little has been done to deal with this pressing issue, despite repeated warning and clear evidence of what inaction costs.
Modernization comes with an astronomical price tag, too: an estimated $5 trillion for a complete overhaul. But the longer America waits to conduct this necessary work, the more people will suffer and die when the grid fails them. Continued neglect will be measured in lives.
Building a stronger, more resilient and modern electric grid is something this nation should do and something it can do together. There may be no better time than now.