Yes, most utilities do have fiber on their transmission lines, but most do not have it on their distribution lines--the ones that actually go to the "curb". The idea was originally to use the fiber to carry bulk communications circuits between major hubs at or near substations, and distribute it to the telephone utilities, not to end users directly.
Actually, it does go to your home. From the primary you have a phase and a neutral wire which connect to both sides of a transformer. A typical distribution transformer has three output terminals, two phase or hot and one neutral. The three go right into your breaker box and from there into your home. A 110 V circuit has one of the phases and the neutral. A 220 V circuit has two phases.
Yes, the neutral is grounded at the utility box. It's supposed to be so that it stays close to zero potential.
All of the things you mention (even though I think you have mis-characterized all of them) occurred AFTER 9/11. What prompted them to attack us then, hmmm?
What utility company prices electricy by the hour? We charge by the kWh and for large users by the average hourly kW. Anyway, most utilities haven't instituted real-time pricing because so few users think it's worth their while to adjust usage accordingly.
You make a good point, but in my company, we have hundreds of data points reporting continuously. When the communications (telephone company) fails, which it does multiple times every day, you end up with wrong data temporarily. If the operator had to investigate every comm failure, he'd never get anything else done. So, there has to be a threshold somewhere of when does a problem reach a level that it needs to generate an alarm.
I cringe when I hear people suggest that the electric grid should operate more like the internet, or that we have the infrastructure of a "third-world country". They just don't know what they're talking about.
Managing the electric grid is unbelievably complicated. It's frankly a wonder events like this don't happen more often. That they don't is a testament to the careful planning, training, and strict operating practices employed by those charged with its operation.
It's overly simplistic to suggest that de-regulation is the root cause of the blackout. The authors of the report clearly identify the primary cause as failure to maintain situational awareness by First Energy. The fact that it took hours for the system to collapse shows how relatively robust it is. If the operators had known the state of the system as they should have, they could easily have taken steps to restore stability long before things got out of control.
I think this report does a lot to cut through the sensational and misinformed foolishness we read and hear. I just hope that the report's bottom line filters through to the public.
The electric utility industry is divided generally into three segments: Generation (Production), Transmission (Long-haul transportation), and Distribution (Retail sale). Regulatory, government, and industry bodies have already decided that it's impractical to de-regulate the Transmission & Distribution segments. That leaves the Generation segment.
That's what was attempted by California in the 1990s, and what happened was that due to inadequate planning by the architects of the "market", aggressive and unscrupulous companies entered the market not with the goal of public service, but with the goal of making money, and as much of it as possible. The end result was blackouts and localized shortages along with sky-high prices.
>p>After that debacle, legislatures and public service commissions all over the country that were gung-ho in favor of deregulation were terrified that the same would be repeated in their states, and they pulled the plug on deregulation plans.
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Yes, most utilities do have fiber on their transmission lines, but most do not have it on their distribution lines--the ones that actually go to the "curb". The idea was originally to use the fiber to carry bulk communications circuits between major hubs at or near substations, and distribute it to the telephone utilities, not to end users directly.
Actually, it does go to your home. From the primary you have a phase and a neutral wire which connect to both sides of a transformer. A typical distribution transformer has three output terminals, two phase or hot and one neutral. The three go right into your breaker box and from there into your home. A 110 V circuit has one of the phases and the neutral. A 220 V circuit has two phases. Yes, the neutral is grounded at the utility box. It's supposed to be so that it stays close to zero potential.
All of the things you mention (even though I think you have mis-characterized all of them) occurred AFTER 9/11. What prompted them to attack us then, hmmm?
What utility company prices electricy by the hour? We charge by the kWh and for large users by the average hourly kW. Anyway, most utilities haven't instituted real-time pricing because so few users think it's worth their while to adjust usage accordingly.
You make a good point, but in my company, we have hundreds of data points reporting continuously. When the communications (telephone company) fails, which it does multiple times every day, you end up with wrong data temporarily. If the operator had to investigate every comm failure, he'd never get anything else done. So, there has to be a threshold somewhere of when does a problem reach a level that it needs to generate an alarm.
I cringe when I hear people suggest that the electric grid should operate more like the internet, or that we have the infrastructure of a "third-world country". They just don't know what they're talking about.
Managing the electric grid is unbelievably complicated. It's frankly a wonder events like this don't happen more often. That they don't is a testament to the careful planning, training, and strict operating practices employed by those charged with its operation.
It's overly simplistic to suggest that de-regulation is the root cause of the blackout. The authors of the report clearly identify the primary cause as failure to maintain situational awareness by First Energy. The fact that it took hours for the system to collapse shows how relatively robust it is. If the operators had known the state of the system as they should have, they could easily have taken steps to restore stability long before things got out of control.
I think this report does a lot to cut through the sensational and misinformed foolishness we read and hear. I just hope that the report's bottom line filters through to the public.
That's what was attempted by California in the 1990s, and what happened was that due to inadequate planning by the architects of the "market", aggressive and unscrupulous companies entered the market not with the goal of public service, but with the goal of making money, and as much of it as possible. The end result was blackouts and localized shortages along with sky-high prices. >p>After that debacle, legislatures and public service commissions all over the country that were gung-ho in favor of deregulation were terrified that the same would be repeated in their states, and they pulled the plug on deregulation plans.