"The electrical grid is prone to system failures and needs modernization."
I'll take "What is One Truth and One Lie", for $200 Alex.
The August 2003 Northeast Blackout resulted from a combination of key monitoring systems offline, generators not responding as anticipated or requested, and then an overloaded line sagging from excess heat and short-circuiting to a tree. Obvious to the experts, this blackout could have been prevented if the grid reliability rules, including tree trimming, were mandatory, and the system needs for communications and cooperation were enforceable.
Er, let's go with "One Truth and One Lie" for $800.
"We will see in the next post in this series that this modernization will help integrate wind and solar energy supplies with the rest of the grid."
Let's switch categories and go to "The Union of Concerned Scientists are On Crack", for $1000 Alex. Make it the Daily Double.
- Read the list and factor out Acts-Of-God like hurricanes and storms (which infrastructure modernization can't prevent) (curiously, Katrina was left off the list)
- Then factor out things that happened before 1980, prior to grid modernization with electromechanical, computerized relays & controls.
- Then factor out major disruptions less than 24 hours - that's an inconvenience, not a catastrophic event.
You're left with one bad thing in India and a whole bunch of stuff on the West Coast, which incidentally and contrary to the point of the article, is directly attributable to a shortage of power plants - a situation caused by all the BANANAS out there (you know, Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Not Anytime?). Yup, this article is just a thinly veiled call for more centralized regulation authority, which is more of a cause than solution.
