Here’s a question. The last time you flipped on a light switch, were you thinking about what was going on behind the scenes? You flipped the switch and, presto, electrons flowed to the bulb, energy was converted, light flooded the room, and you went about your daily business.
On a certain day, not too long ago, the mere flipping of a light switch produced no outcome at all. The day is August 26 and the year is 2003. You’re traveling to Buffalo, NY on business. Your flight landed in BNIA at 8 pm and you notice that it’s unusually hot and muggy. You find your hotel room, walk in, and find yourself in need of turning on a light. You reach for the light switch, flip it on and … and … nothing. No light. No magical conversion of electrical energy into light.
You try the switch a couple more times thinking that endless repetition will somehow bring the light back to life. Still nothing. At first you suspect the bulb is bad. You mutter something about how bulbs just don’t last as long as they used to. You walk into another room to try the switch to another light. The fingers do the flipping – and nothing. No light. The simple action of a light switch has now become the bane of your existence.
It’s not until a short time later that you discover you’ve become part of a cast of about 50 million people who are in precisely the same predicament as you. No power. Thanks to a sudden spike of electricity in northern Ohio, blackouts have swept across the north eastern U.S.
Did I mention that it’s August? I think I did. No fans blowing, no air conditioners cooling, no elevators running, no gas pumps pumping, no street lights working, no subways moving, no freezers freezing. No life-saving equipment in hospitals. And worse. There’s a word for it – chaos. But this isn’t a movie or reality show. It’s reality. And, at the end of the day, the real impact will have been nearly $10 billion in economic losses, with unknown impact to the lives of millions.
Approximately 34,000 miles of transmission lines were taken out of service. That’s about 1/5 of all lines in the U.S. All told, 531 power generators capable of providing 35 GigaWatts of power were also lost during that time.
Areas in red were affected by blackouts in 2003.
A few improvements to the power grid did ultimately take place after the Blackout of 2003. That is, once all the political posturing and finger pointing subsided.
On the one hand, it was unfortunate that it took such a disaster to motivate those in authority to come to an agreement on the needed improvements to the power grid. On the other hand, it was fortunate that the impact of this particular blackout was not worse.
Even with the changes made at the time, such blackouts could happen again. In fact, several power blackouts (in addition to the more numerous brownouts) have occurred since 2003 in various parts of the country. The cost for all these disruptions is no small potatoes either. For example, the EPRI estimates that such interruptions and fluctuations to our power grid have resulted in over $100 billion in damages and lost business … every year!
These disruptions in our power grid, such as the one in 2003, are telling us something. They’re warning of our need to develop and implement more reliable and lasting solutions to what are real and critical weaknesses. So, the next time you go to turn the light switch on, think about how you might become part of the solution to a growing problem, or how you might motivate others to do so. Then, go ahead and enjoy the gift of light.
Back to the Original Question?
Before we provide our answer, let us first be sure to acknowledge that the majority of folks who maintain the existing power grid deserve our most sincere gratitude. Most do a remarkably good job, especially given the antiquated power systems and old tech tools with which they are often constrained to work.
So, what is “the most amazing thing about the power grid”?
It’s that, given all of its deficiencies, it works as well as it does. That’s pretty amazing, don’t you think?
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