America's National Electrical Power Grid System, Still dangerously out dated.!

52ndStreet

Gold Member
Jun 18, 2008
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We all realize the technological prowess of the United States of America. We are still
the only country in the world, that has planned, developed, and constructed machinery,that
landed men on the surface of another celestial body.The Moon.

Given this technological advantage, you would think that America's national power grid,would
be the most modern up to date power grid in the world, monitored by state of the art technology. It is not. In fact America's power grid is functioning with 1970's technology!.
The current electrical power demand, and usage, that America requires today has quadrupled, from the era of the 1970's
There are hundreds of million more appliances and computers in use now, than at any other time in American history.

The current system will not withstand any sustained power demands, at current power consumption levels, for the future.

The power grid system we now have in place, is vulnerable to lightening strikes, that can
trigger a major blackout in a major region of the country.

This Power grid modernization will cost billions of dollars. But it must be done.
And it must be done sooner than latter.
 
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And exactly what would be your proposal to update it?

Well my proposal would be a state of the art artificial intelligence monitoring system that can
adjust power to where it is needed, and circuit break power to prevent a blackout before it
happens. We have the software, and computers, to implement such a system.It is just very expensive.
 
And exactly what would be your proposal to update it?

Well my proposal would be a state of the art artificial intelligence monitoring system that can
adjust power to where it is needed, and circuit break power to prevent a blackout before it
happens. We have the software, and computers, to implement such a system.It is just very expensive.

So then donate your whole paycheck to it. Seems to work just fine to me, so leave my check alone.
 
And exactly what would be your proposal to update it?

Well my proposal would be a state of the art artificial intelligence monitoring system that can
adjust power to where it is needed, and circuit break power to prevent a blackout before it
happens. We have the software, and computers, to implement such a system.It is just very expensive.

So then donate your whole paycheck to it. Seems to work just fine to me, so leave my check alone.

There must be a National Tax to update the current SCATA system.To a state of the art,
Artificial intelligence system that would eliminate the possibility of human error for America's
National power grid.We all have to contribute, because we all use electricity.
 
Are you an electrical engineer?

No, but I have read enough about our national power grid to know that it needs to be updated and modernized.

Do you know anything about the national power grid?.
 
No doubt it does need an upgrade. I do think though people on a whole are about taxed out. How about just add that to the cigerette tax. Heck everything else has been.

Here is real the deal. Most people are fed up with the big boys taking it out on their dime and not their own dime to cover these expenses. Electrical power is big business not a national debt.

I'd personally would rather see people become more energy independant.
 
Meh, I pay for it beyond taxes, if they can't do it with the "environut" inflated rate then we need to find new people to run the power company.
 
Well my proposal would be a state of the art artificial intelligence monitoring system that can
adjust power to where it is needed, and circuit break power to prevent a blackout before it
happens. We have the software, and computers, to implement such a system.It is just very expensive.

So then donate your whole paycheck to it. Seems to work just fine to me, so leave my check alone.

There must be a National Tax to update the current SCATA system.To a state of the art,
Artificial intelligence system that would eliminate the possibility of human error for America's
National power grid.We all have to contribute, because we all use electricity.

52nd, while I agree with you that the grid needs to be totally replaced with a distributed grid that woud pick up power from a citizens 5 kw of solar as well as an energy companies multi-gw nuke plant, the idea of having the whole thing controlled by one computer is a recipe for disaster. There should be multi-regional controllers with 24-7 human oversight. I have delt whith computers controling industrial machinery for 30 years now, and you would not believe some of the things I have seen go wrong, or the reasons that the computers went wrong.
 
I propose that the Federal Government build a new grid, one that incorperates the elements already in existance, and puts out major legs to the rural areas where we have such potential in solar, wind, and geo-thermal. Then charge the energy companies an amount that would not only pay for the grid, but have enough profit left over to expand it as needed. Much like the present setup that we have for the Interstates. However, with legal clauses that make sure the infrastructural stays maintained.
 
There is absolutely no question that the grid needs upgrading, in a serious way. It is antiquated and imperils the health of the economy.

There is a fair amount of nonsense being tossed around in the stimulus bill. This is one item where money could be put to extremely good use because we are going to have to do it eventually anyways.
 
There is absolutely no question that the grid needs upgrading, in a serious way. It is antiquated and imperils the health of the economy.

There is a fair amount of nonsense being tossed around in the stimulus bill. This is one item where money could be put to extremely good use because we are going to have to do it eventually anyways.

Not only that, a serious project, Apollo type serious, would have inevitable unforeseen spinoffs that would further stimulate the economy. Not in a year or two, but over a couple of generations, as the Apollo project did in the field of computers, networks, and materials.
 
Great ideas and posts Old rocks!

I think a lot more people invest in private wind generation and solar if they had a way to recoup their initial investment from the extra energy that they do not use.
 
So then donate your whole paycheck to it. Seems to work just fine to me, so leave my check alone.

There must be a National Tax to update the current SCATA system.To a state of the art,
Artificial intelligence system that would eliminate the possibility of human error for America's
National power grid.We all have to contribute, because we all use electricity.

52nd, while I agree with you that the grid needs to be totally replaced with a distributed grid that woud pick up power from a citizens 5 kw of solar as well as an energy companies multi-gw nuke plant, the idea of having the whole thing controlled by one computer is a recipe for disaster. There should be multi-regional controllers with 24-7 human oversight. I have delt whith computers controling industrial machinery for 30 years now, and you would not believe some of the things I have seen go wrong, or the reasons that the computers went wrong.

We have in place today, a semi artificial intelligence like system with 24 Seven human oversight.It is called a "SCATA" grid system. If you google SCATA, and electrical power
grid control and monitoring, you will receive more detailed info on this system, that is
in use in certain parts of the National Electrical power grid network now,Today!.
 
There must be a National Tax to update the current SCATA system.To a state of the art,
Artificial intelligence system that would eliminate the possibility of human error for America's
National power grid.We all have to contribute, because we all use electricity.

52nd, while I agree with you that the grid needs to be totally replaced with a distributed grid that woud pick up power from a citizens 5 kw of solar as well as an energy companies multi-gw nuke plant, the idea of having the whole thing controlled by one computer is a recipe for disaster. There should be multi-regional controllers with 24-7 human oversight. I have delt whith computers controling industrial machinery for 30 years now, and you would not believe some of the things I have seen go wrong, or the reasons that the computers went wrong.

We have in place today, a semi artificial intelligence like system with 24 Seven human oversight.It is called a "SCATA" grid system. If you google SCATA, and electrical power
grid control and monitoring, you will receive more detailed info on this system, that is
in use in certain parts of the National Electrical power grid network now,Today!.

SCATA ... sound nasty to me.
 
As I sit up north here in this little back woods, Wisconsin town I live in, the power has gone off three times already for longer than an hour, and it constantly blinks causing everything with a clock in it needing reset, in the last three months. Yeah I'd go for a new national electrical grid. Hopefully the funding for such would reach clear down to this rural area. If not, I'll stick to my back up plan, a diesel generator hooked directly into my electrical service panel that kicks on when power is lost. I WILL NOT sit around and freeze my ass when the power goes out up here when it's THIRTY BELOW OUTSIDE!
 
As I sit up north here in this little back woods, Wisconsin town I live in, the power has gone off three times already for longer than an hour, and it constantly blinks causing everything with a clock in it needing reset, in the last three months. Yeah I'd go for a new national electrical grid. Hopefully the funding for such would reach clear down to this rural area. If not, I'll stick to my back up plan, a diesel generator hooked directly into my electrical service panel that kicks on when power is lost. I WILL NOT sit around and freeze my ass when the power goes out up here when it's THIRTY BELOW OUTSIDE!

No wood heat Pale Rider?
 
Updating the energy grid not just replacing wires. Our present system is acculmulation of a multitude of differnt energy providers whose initial and only goal was to provide energy to a given set of customers usually within a set geographical boundary. There was little thought at the time things were initially built that they would one day be rubbing elbows with far away neighbors. Our existing grid is consequently a patchwork of make-dos that are, most often than not, barely adequate. To update the grid would require something akin to what we've done with the internet where nationwide backbones exist. This would allow transmission of power to wherever it's needed, when it's needed. It would not know geographical boundaries and would be far more efficient. It would also alternative energy sources to tie in and provide energy to customers anywhere. It would be a differnt kind of transmission, though. Our present system loses a lot of energy just in transmission. It's a good idea (and very expensive) but then you have to ask, who owns and operates the system, as they exist for the nation not any one customer base. It would have to be an entity operating on a national level. We're resistant to a nationalized medical system how would we respond to a nationalized energy system?
 
Well my proposal would be a state of the art artificial intelligence monitoring system that can
adjust power to where it is needed, and circuit break power to prevent a blackout before it
happens. We have the software, and computers, to implement such a system.It is just very expensive.

So then donate your whole paycheck to it. Seems to work just fine to me, so leave my check alone.

There must be a National Tax to update the current SCATA system.To a state of the art,
Artificial intelligence system that would eliminate the possibility of human error for America's
National power grid.We all have to contribute, because we all use electricity.

you've never watched the Terminator movies have you?
 

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