Why is our power supply so fragile?

Question

How is it we can send probes outside the solar system but we can't keep squirrels out of power stations or keep ice from knocking out power lines?

How hard can it be to come up with a 20 year plan to upgrade our entire power distribution system?

Answer 1

It all boils down to money, or lack of it. All of what you suggest is possible, but would involve burying the main power cables so they are not damaged by ice laden trees.

The 20 year plan would again involve extremely large amounts of capital, and the distribution system is not simply owned by one company, but is owned, leased, bought and sold all the time, which makes maintenance and capacity expansion just that more difficult to manage.

Maintenance usually involves repairing part of the grid after damage has been done. Obviously, this has to be done. Expanding the local capacity is a lot more difficult and costly to do, and therefore goes undone, until the grid is just simply overwhelmed, and large blackouts result.

There have been plans discussed for a superconducting, cryogenic Hydrogen super grid, that would be able to distribute not only very large amounts of electricity, but the hydrogen required to maintain superconductivity, could also be used for supplying hydrogen fuel stations for cars etc. The problems with this system though, are primarily, the technology just isn't feasible on a large scale right now, and the cost of building new power stations, hydrogen generation plants, hydrogen "gas" stations, and an entirely new distribution grid, would be astronomical.

Hope this helps to answer your question....

Answer 2

Even underground lines age and deteriorate over time. Ground water causes damage, short circuits and rust. And underground lines apparently overheat more easily if overloaded (like in Georgetown, DC, where underground fires have blow off manhole covers downtown). And construction can damage cables since it my be difficult to really know the exact location of a buried cable.

It is more expensive to install and replace an underground cable.