U.S. working to protect massive electric grid

John F. Kennedy said, “The time to repair a roof is when the sun is shining.” Today, the push is on to fortify the electric grid before severe weather or other catastrophes hit.

The spate of superstorms and hurricanes that have led to widespread and prolonged outages in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and most recently the Carolinas has Americans asking some basic questions.

Will we be safe? How long will we be without lights and power?

The good news is that there is a lot of work already being done to strengthen the grid.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported, “Spending on infrastructure to deliver power to homes and businesses has increased steadily in the past 10 years as utilities build, upgrade and replace station equipment, poles, fixtures and overhead lines and devices.”

It adds, “Spending on operations and maintenance of the transmission grid has also risen steadily — from $3.3 billion in 1996 to $13.5 billion in 2016.”

America’s electric grid is 5.5 million miles, which makes identifying its weakest links inherently challenging. Furthermore, no two traumatic weather events are the same. Here are nine recent developments helping to strengthen grid reliability.

■ Better data analytics. Improved computer systems are more effective at predicting likely damaging events so pre-emptive actions can be taken.

■ Digital media. Cell phones and social media help notify utilities faster about where problems are.

■ Bury lines. During new construction, electric lines are now often buried, meaning far fewer problems than overhead lines.

■ Fortify and move substations. Vulnerable substations, especially those on flood plains, are being elevated or moved.

■ Tree management. Through tree trimming and vegetation management, potential problems can be eliminated.

■ Stockpiling. It is difficult to obtain grid equipment, especially large amounts of it, after a disaster. Having items pre-positioned for replacement or even redeployment to affected areas in a given region addresses this.

■ Better communication with crews. It is also now common for out-ofstate crews to be deployed across the country. Through industry information sharing and lessons from prior disasters, communications between these crews has significantly improved.

■ Automated metering. With smart meters, which provide two-way information from homes to utilities.

■ Electromagnetic pulses. The U.S. Department of Energy is assessing steps to address potential widespread damage from electromagnetic pulses, such as an atmospheric nuclear explosion or targeted ground sabotage.

There is no silver bullet when it comes to fortifying America’s vast, complex and ever-changing electric grid. And with large portions of the grid more than 40 years old, having originally been designed and built for locally generated power, the challenges will remain significant.

By continuing the dayto-day work of identifying and fixing problems, and planning for catastrophes, the grid will be continuously improved. It will be better able to withstand a slew of weather disasters and other troublesome scenarios, while better serving the public day to day.