Ice Storm Reveals Dated Power Grid

  • Ice storms in the Midwest revealed weaknesses in a dated electric power grid. (Photo courtesy of US Department of Health and Human Services)

Hundreds of thousands of people in the lower Midwest are still without electricity and heat because of an ice storm. Lester Graham reports the storm shows that the electric power grid is fragile:

Transcript

Hundreds of thousands of people in the lower Midwest are still without electricity and heat because of an ice storm. Lester Graham reports the storm shows that the electric power grid is fragile:

People who tried to stay at home are running out of supplies and now heading for shelters. Rachel Harper and her three children are staying in a shelter in a church basement staffed by Red Cross volunteers from around Bowling Green, Kentucky.

“We’re doing okay. They’ve been watching movies, playing games. Just trying to be together as a family.”

Others are trying to stick it out at home. Mike Jarvis was stocking up at a Wal-Mart.

“I’ve got a wood heater and we’re cooking on the grill, so we’re doing okay.”

In the hardest hit areas, power crews say it will be two more weeks before they find all the downed lines.

The stimulus package includes money for automatic meter readers that could help find downed power lines faster.

Patrick Levine is with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. He says that technology could help.

“There is probably an opportunity to more quickly identify which consumers are without power.”

The ice storm revealed just one of the weaknesses in the grid that’ll have to be upgraded if we’re going to start using electricity to power our cars.

For The Environment Report, I’m Lester Graham.

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Overloaded Power Grids

Parts of the Midwest have reached record high temperatures on some days
this summer. That means more people are cranking their air
conditioners to full blast. Rebecca Williams reports the electric
industry says more needs to be done to handle increasing energy
demands:

Transcript

Parts of the Midwest have reached record high temperatures on some days
this summer. That means more people are cranking their air
conditioners to full blast. Rebecca Williams reports the electric
industry says more needs to be done to handle increasing energy
demands:


Hot summer days test the limits of our electric system.


Ed Legge is a spokesperson for the Edison Electric Institute, a power
company industry group. He says transmission systems in three parts of
the country are overburdened: the Northeast, the Mid-Atlantic and
southern California.


“They’re very congested, they’re very similar to a highway system
that’s got way more traffic on it than it was designed to have on it.”


A massive blackout four years ago left about 50 million people in the
dark.


Legge says to avoid future blackouts, new transmission lines and more
power generating capacity are needed.


More than 150 new coal-burning power plants are proposed around the
country, but the power companies and some environmentalists say we
could avoid building some of those plants if we cut our energy use.


For the Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.

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Utility Deregulation Leaving Consumers Behind?

A new report on competition in the electric utility industry says costly times may be ahead for residential ratepayers. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach has details:

Transcript

A new report on competition in the electric utility industry says
costly times may be ahead for residential ratepayers. The Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach has details:


Several states in the Midwest and elsewhere have tried to foster
competition in the utility industry. The National Association of State
Public Interest Research Groups says some business customers have been
able to save money by shopping around, but most residential electric
customers have not seen the same benefits. In fact, study author Tony
Dutzik says in some states with market restructuring, rate caps are
coming off.


“And there has been widespread concern in a number of those places that
when those rate caps do come off, consumers could be facing significant
increases in rates, and indeed has happened in a couple of instances
where rate caps have been lifted already.”


Dutzick says electric competition has also led to a lack of long-term
planning that could trigger more blackouts and other reliability
problems, but utilities in some states say to make the system more
reliable they’re trying to boost the supply of electricity. The
companies say rates in the region are still a relative bargain.


For the
Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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Powerline Generates Controversy

No one likes the idea of a major powerline running through their
backyard. But a proposed bulk transmission line in Wisconsin is
generating more than the usual amount of controversy. The Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Stephanie Hemphill reports:

Transcript

No one likes the idea of a major power line running through their backyard.
But a proposed bulk transmission line in Wisconsin is generating more than
the usual amount of controversy. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Stephanie Hemphill reports:


Steve Olson will never forget the night of June 25, 1998. He was working
the overnight shift at Minnesota power’s control center when something went
very wrong.


“I really didn’t know exactly what was going on at the time but I knew it was
serious. I knew it was something bigger than Minnesota power. It’s within
a matter of a minute or two we had half a dozen lines opening.”


The open lines meant the electric grid was breaking apart. The grid
connects Minnesota power to eight states and three Canadian provinces.
lightning strikes in Wisconsin – 200 miles away – caused the breakup. Over
40,000 people lost power.


John Heino is a spokesman for Minnesota power. He says that kind of
situation is one step away from a regional blackout.


“Normally this system is designed to work together so neighboring states and
systems can support each other, but in that situation, it just breaks up
into pieces and there’s no guarantee the power plants in that area are
enough to supply the load that’s left.”


The near miss convinced Minnesota power to do something to shore up the weak
link in the regional electric grid.


The Duluth-based company joined with Wisconsin Public Service to propose a
345-kilovolt transmission line from Duluth Minnesota to Wausau Wisconsin.
It would tap into cheap coal and hydro power from western Minnesota and
Manitoba. Heino says the new link would lighten the load on existing lines
and make service more reliable.


“With all these sources to the north and the west, and you have the Twin
Cities, Milwaukee and Chicago, to the south and the east, so there’s this
general day in and day out tendency for the power to flow to the south and
the east.”


The plan has attracted a lot of opposition along the proposed route. Eight
counties and over fifty local governments have gone on record against it.

Opponents worry about property values, loss of farmland, and health issues.


(sound of meeting)


At a recent meeting in superior Wisconsin, nearly 200 angry people showed up
to confront Minnesota power officials.


Person 1: “Both of these proposed routes would go through our property. We sunk our
life savings into it and we thought we could protect it. Lo and behold,
what did we know?”


Person 2: “As far as I’m concerned, this is a dinosaur. We’re looking at smaller
leading edge technologies that are more adapted to local generation.


Person 3: “I have a very nice neighbor and the power line is going across his land

and
he said to me, if it comes across my land, I’ll shoot’em.


Some Wisconsin farmers oppose the line because of problems they’re having
with other electric lines. Debbie Beyrl says ground currents have made her
cows sick. That’s reduced milk production and made it harder to keep the
business going. She’s also worried about her family’s health.


“I worry about my kids because they’re in the barn helping us. And I think
it’ll put us out of business, not that we’d want to quit but I think it
would finish us off, yeah.”


Power company officials say ground currents are caused by improper wiring or
local distribution lines, not large transmission lines.


But environmentalists question the need for the line. Chris Laforge sells
wind and solar electric generating systems. He says utilities could avoid
building expensive power lines by using alternative systems.


“It’s a perfect match. Distributed photovoltaic generation on rooftops of
large buildings can meet peak air conditioning demand because electricity
gets made right when you need it.”


Power companies say there’s great potential in alternative technologies, but
the current need is acute. Jim Loock is the chief electrical engineer
at the Wisconsin Public Service Commission. That agency has the authority
to approve the line.


“Our electrical system is growing at 2-3% a year, so we need 200-300
megawatts of additional supply every year. That’s why we say part of the
equation is energy conservation and demand side management, we feel strongly
that the consumer needs to conserve energy and use it as wisely as possible.”


Hearings are scheduled this month in Minnesota and this summer in Wisconsin.
if approved, construction could start in September 2001.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Stephanie Hemphill.