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In the US, the most publicly used system is not the public schools, the highways, or  medicaid.  No, the system we interact with and depend on most is the electricity grid. Yet, few of us even think about how this system works until their is a problem or power loss.  Silicon Valley technology companies are particularly vulnerable. Rolling black outs cost this area up to $75 million in losses, and Sun Microsystems predicts that it loses close to $1 million per minute of a power blackout.  As I move forward in my research, I am going to be focusing on utility policy and smart grid systems and I wanted to start this series by focusing on some of the problems of the existing system. Currently, most utility grids rely on centralized distribution and production of power, mainly from coal, hydro-power, and natural gas. Now, while many advocates deplore the production and burning of fossil fuels to power our electrical grid, what is even more shocking is how much power is lost in transmitting that power to the end users. Upwards of forty percent of power is lost getting to your plug. Lawrence Berkeley has done some very interesting work laying out these numbers and calculating how power gets distributed in the US.  

Much of the problem is that it’s hard to service the peak energy demand and bring on line giant power producers to service that needs of the grid and turn them off when power is no longer needed. Peak energy demand has been growing at 25% a year since 1982 due to population growth, bigger houses, bigger TVs, and air conditioners. This is where many experts believe that a smart grid would be able to improve the system. Even a grid with existing fossil fuel inputs that was 5% more efficient would equate to permanently eliminating the fuel and green house gas emissions from 53 million cars. The opportunities for savings by updating the grid will be sizable, and should be a key to the discussion in how the nation address climate change.

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