Skip to main content

Grid Addiction

In this episode - Grid Addiction . . .

Last week I asked you to walk out your front door and find the electric meter for your home. While you were out there, did you examine the power lines that link you to the electric grid (the grid)? You may live in a neighborhood like ours where all you see are the street light poles - no distribution lines because they're all underground. But one thing is for sure, we all rely on the electricity that connects us to the vast infrastructure called the grid.

Let's consider the obvious first; you have a smartphone. You carry a charger and a cord connecting you to power to keep that device functioning. It could be a USB cord these days that plugs into your car's charging port. For all we know, the electricity that charged your phone may have been generated miles from your home. Anyway, you get the picture you're reliant in some way to get power for that device. Without it - there's panic!

As I learn more about the challenges and benefits of renewable energy, I'm convinced that too many people today take electricity for granted - they are addicted. It's not "Where's the beef" It's - "Where's the Power?" They don't consider - or care - how they charge their devices but are hell-bent on plugging in wherever they find that ubiquitous outlet.

For example, when was the last time you were in an airport? If you've had to wait to board your flight, stop looking at the screen of your phone and look at the people around you. You may catch a glimpse of what appears to be the hind end of a hog rooting for truffles - expecting to claim the nearest free power outlet before someone else does. Why didn't they charge their device before leaving home? Who knows.

Anyway, let's begin the day again. It's 5:30 a.m. your opportunity clock goes off and rattles you out of bed. You stumble to the bathroom and flip on the light. If that light is incandescent, it converts about five percent of the electric energy to light the rest dissipates as heat. All the while, your refrigerator, heater, air conditioner, TV, WiFi router, home computer, Smart Assistant, water heater, and for some, electric cars are plugged in and drawing current from the grid. Do you start the day with coffee? If so, when you turn on the brew, it draws power. What about the toast you had for breakfast, lights in the kitchen, opening that refrigerator door a few times, and hearing it kick on? More Power draw!

And let's consider this for a moment - most households' needs are small potatoes. What about Hospitals, local businesses that provide services, Supermarkets with refrigeration, gas stations, restaurants, huge Cloud-Based server farms, office buildings, and, let's not forget, the Internet and cellular 5-G infrastructure? All this power generation and consumption happens magically for millions of folks concurrently without consideration or thought on your part. This is a daily occurrence that you expect or demand, provided you pay your electric bills.

But what happens if the power goes out? With technology today, thanks to a smarter grid, it's usually a brief outage in most urban areas unless a tornado or natural disaster takes out the power lines.

"What going on?" You ask, Damn utility company! We must have blown a fuse or a circuit breaker tripped, not so - and what about the folks that have solar? Well, their power is out, too; why? Because their PV system, connected to the grid, is designed to shut down during a power outage so your solar and everyone else's do not overload the grid (unless you have battery backup). Remember, all this is part of a delicately balanced network we call the grid that cannot be overloaded or out of balance.

My listening friends, we walk a precarious balance with electricity. By now, you get my drift - we are all "addicted" to electricity, like it or not. On second thought, maybe addicted is not the right word - dependent!

Indeed, the charger is your final connection to the grid. Always carry that wire - your umbilical cord - to avoid the dead phone jitters. 

I'm Patrick Ball; thanks for listening. See you in the next episode.

Comments

Most Popular of All Time

Beyond Facts-The Deep Dive

✨ In this episode, Beyond Facts: Reimagining School–in the Age of AI . . .   This week's podcast is a bit different; it's another example of how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can offer tools to creatively enhance your analytical presentation of information. We took this week's blog and copied it into Gemini with the question, “If a story is to work, it must, on some level, create an illusion of escape and also achieve a goal simultaneously. Does this apply to my blog post that follows?” What's created is not just an analysis of the writing, but an AI-generated discussion produced “On the Fly” - Enjoy! Did you know that the word "school" comes from the ancient Greek word scholÄ“ , which originally meant "leisure"? Not a rigid schedule or droning lectures filled with "facts," but free time for thinking and conversation. To the Greeks, learning happened best when life slowed down—when you had room to reflect, to ask questions, and to wrestle ...

A Heart Full of Thanks

Oh, the thanks I could think, and the thanks I could say! For the wonderful people who brightened my day. The first one is Lori, my wife, sweet and true, Who knows just the thing and knows just what to do. She whipped up a feast with a smile and a sigh, With corn on the cob and a steak cooked “On the Fly!” My neighbor, Steve, with a mischievous gleam, Said, “No fence work today! No work, it would seem! You’ll paint with some water, some colors so bright, And sign your new painting with all of your might!" I laughed and I said, “But I don’t know that skill! I’ll slap on some paint and see what sticks still!” Then there’s my friends on the Facebook machine, The best group of readers that ever was seen! They read all my blogs and they hear my podcasts, They send all their cheer that's built to last! And Billy and Linda. A Snoopy card in the mail. A wonderful surprise that was sure to prevail! From very good friends, a delightful new tale ! But the thanks didn't stop, no, not...

The Summer Surprise

In this special episode, The Summer Surprise . . .   Well, howdy there! It's me, Huck Finn, and lemme tell ya, somethin' special happened just the other day. We called it "The Summer Surprise.” Phew-wee! That ol' post box, it coughed up somethin' good! Wasn't no bills, nor them pesky ads, and thankfully, no regular ol' rocks neither. Nope, this here was a letter, folded up neat as a pin, looked a bit like one o' them school lockers, just sittin' there waitin' to be opened. It was from young Sierra, a mighty fine friend, and she'd gone and made some pure, honest-to-goodness artwork with her own two hands. My fingers they was all thumbs, just itching to see what kind of wild wonder she'd whipped up this time. I unfolded that paper, careful-like, you know, and bless my bare feet, there it was! A picture of a whole gymnasium and a mini-soccer field, all done up in colors that just popped. She'd used crayons and pencils, and you could tel...

A Pirate's Ponderings

In this episode, A Pirate's Ponderings: Turning 69 with a Classic . . . When was the last time you were so compelled by a quest that you had your bags packed and your boots on before the first rooster crowed? For me, this summer has been exactly that, a journey where the world outside faded away and the one inside my head roared to life. I felt like that young cabin boy in training, with the vast ocean of a great story stretching out before me. My hand was on the wheel, navigating every swell, riding the waves, and eager to see what lay just beyond the horizon. This wasn't a journey across lands, but a flight of imagination that has been an exciting ride. My adventure took off on the deck of the Hispaniola as I became lost on Treasure Island . My imagination soared, and I could almost taste the salt spray and feel the ship's timbers groan as we sailed toward our destiny. Below deck, in the narrow, shadowy depths, I could smell the hearty meals Long John Silver and Jim Haw...