Senator Harry Reid and the Unified Smart Grid
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 19:42 Ever since reading Thomas Friedman’s seminal work on energy and America’s future “Hot, Flat and Crowded”, I have been touting the need to convert to a smart grid.
Here is a great definition and explanation of what the ‘smart grid’ is and how it will benefit America, from Repoweramerica.org:
Unified National Smart Grid and what it means to you and I
The Problem: The US electricity transmission and distribution system – or ‘grid’ — is in critical need of an upgrade. It is old, balkanized and too limited in its reach. The current grid is a series of independently operating regional grids – it can’t meet the needs of a nation whose economy would benefit substantially from the system optimization that comes with national interconnection. Its limitations and vulnerability to failure are also reported to cost the nation $80 billion to $188 billion per year in losses due to grid-related power outages and power quality issues.1 And most critical to clean energy development, areas rich in renewable resources like solar, wind and geothermal are currently not well-served and thus have no ‘highway’ available to move power outputs to the markets where that power is needed.