Saturday, August 16, 2003

Power



I can recall numerous childhood occasions of sitting on the floor in a dark room with my sister and cousins. Our great-grandmother would make this a mandatory drill whenever a thunderstorm was passing through the area. We’d have to turn off all appliances, lights, radios, etc. and just sit in a room and look at each other. We couldn’t even talk or joke with each other without facing a stern reprimand from Grandma..

“Ya’ll hursh now!!” she’d say with a menacing scowl..”God is talking”.

I would always make sure to listen intently as the thunder rolled through and the lightening crackled in the background. I didn’t understand the language that God was speaking in, but I definitely felt His power.

Thursday’s rolling blackouts that hit the Northeastern region of the United States and some parts of Canada brought those days of sitting in a darkened room to my mind. From as cities far west as Detroit, to as far east as New Jersey, millions of people were without electrical service. Subways came to a screeching halt, street lights turned off, traffic lights were disabled and the electrical ‘connected’ world of air conditioners, refrigerators, computer networks and microwaves were disabled. The most disturbing part about all of it is that they have yet to isolate a reason why this occurred. While some places are STILL without electrical service, a closer inspection of the power system, which supplies our modern day conveniences, is mandated.

Most American’s reality is that as long as they pay their light bill, they will be able to plug their TV’s, blenders, air conditioners, etc. into their 120-volt electrical sockets and the power will be available for use. Those sockets are not a power source; they are just a power outlet. To understand where the power actually comes from, we have to track the transmission all the way back to the source. Each of those sockets and light fixtures in your house is wired into what’s called a circuit breaker box. Each room or zone has its own dedicated circuit breaker that ‘trips’ whenever there is an overload of power in that particular zone. If your compressor in you’re A/C goes out or your old toaster shorts out, instead of damaging the whole system, the breakers are meant to trip off to protect all the other zones, thus isolating the problem. After the breaker box you have a meter, which is installed somewhere along the perimeter of the house or facility. This is a measuring device that the service companies like Reliant Energy use to charge their customers. These meters are fed 240 volts from a transformer, which is usually located up on a pole behind the residence or facility. These drum shaped transformers actually step down or ‘transform’ the distribution voltage (usually around 7,200 volts) found on the power lines, down to the 240 volts required for most residences and commercial facilities.

The power lines that supply these transformers are connected to power substations. These power substations have larger transformers that step transmission voltages (usually in the tens or hundreds of thousands of volts range) down to the distribution voltage level (usually around 7200 volts). These substations also have a ‘bus’ that can split the distribution power off in multiple directions as well as a myriad of circuit breakers and switches so that the substation can be disconnected from the transmission grid or separate distribution lines when necessary. Now the question most people would ask is, “So..is this where the power comes from??” and the simple answer is no. These substations are still only transforming a larger power and distributing it out to individual customers, they aren’t creating power.

Electrical power starts at a power plant in almost all cases. The power plants consist of a spinning electrical generator. Something has to spin that generator, like the water wheel in a hydroelectric dam, a large diesel engine or a gas turbine. But in most cases, the thing spinning the generator is a steam turbine. Burning coal, oil or natural gas might create the steam. That is the common link between fuel costs and energy costs. As the energy companies have to pay more for oil and gas to generate their electrical power, these cost increases are passed along to the end using electrical consumer.

The combination of these power plants, high voltage transmission lines, power substations, distribution lines and transformers are what make up the ‘power grid’. Most of these power grids were initially designed and built back in the 50’s and 60’s and they were not meant to handle the enormous load that us power gorging Americans are demanding from it today. By world standards, the United States is an electricity glutton, using over 25% of the entire power consumed globally. From people running hot water when they’re not even in the shower, to those who keep their A/C’s on 68 all day long so that they can come home to a ‘cool’ house, we all need to start being more conscience of our power consumption.

Being stuck in an elevator in Buffalo,NY for 30 minutes magnified my reality of the largest blackout in American history. Fortunately it wasn’t crowded and I’m not claustrophobic, but just that short time of confinement made me think about how much our lives are controlled by our power distribution system. Some people laugh and make fun of ‘un-enlightened’ cultures such as the Amish who strive to function completely independent of modern technology. Instead, I’ve found a whole new level of appreciation for the ‘basic’ ways of life. Being able to grow a garden for food or build a windmill to generate your own electricity and/or running water is an antiquated practice in America today. Suffering through a total blackout for a couple of days will make you realize how these skills and talents associated with rural independent living are timeless survival techniques. My grandmother made sure we respected God’s definitive power during storms, and our growing energy crisis will make us all redefine the power of man.