On The Fly

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 be...

In this episode - The Electric Grid . . . Flip a switch, and a light comes on. In most cases, the electricity to power that device came from an enormous interconnected system called the electric grid. Have you ever wondered how it works? What is the Electric Grid? An electric grid is a network of synchronized power  providers and consumers connected by transmission and distribution lines and operated by one or more control centers. When most people talk about the power "grid," they're referring to the transmission system for electricity. The continental United States does not have a national grid. Instead, there are three grids: the Eastern Interconnect, the Western Interconnect, and the Texas Interconnect. In Alaska and Hawaii, several smaller systems interconnect parts of each state. Electricity gets generated in many different ways: Power plants that burn oil, gas, or coal. Nuclear plants. Solar arrays. Wind farms and hydroelectric Dams where water cascades. In most pl...