This shifting demand/production method, says Lott, makes the grid even more complicated. Consumers who produce electricity through solar panels on their rooftops are sometimes putting electricity into the system, and other times taking it out. But deploying renewable sources adds to the challenges facing the grid. Renewable energy is important to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from energy production. And there's all different types of steps there and then the end-use customers.' 'It's actually talking about power plants that put the electricity in, then the wires that move it. So, transmission wires, these really big things that take the electricity from power plants to closer to our homes, and then the smaller wires that we call distribution wires that actually take that electricity to our homes and to the final point where we consume it.' But that's just part of what makes up the grid. 'When we talk about the grid, your mind can go to just the wires. She says the grid is complex, and it's made up of much more than just power lines. Melissa Lott is the director of research for the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. A report by the Pew Charitable Trusts suggests that a lack of investment in upgrading the power grid is going to cause more power outages in the future.Īll of this was discussed in a recent webinar for journalists as part of the Resilience Media Project, which is a part of the larger Initiative on Communication and Sustainability at the Earth Institute of Columbia University.

The grid is a mix of connections and agreements across state lines that uses sometimes archaic technology to survive, and its architecture is in need of a drastic overhaul. Power cuts during California's wildfire season in 2019 are estimated to have cost the state as much as $2 billion.Īging infrastructure is also a problem for the electric system. Wildfires out west also create havoc to electric distribution systems. According to economists in Texas, the recent winter storm that hit that state could end up costing as much as $200 billion-more than Hurricanes Harvey and Ike. According to a recent report by the Department of Energy, weather-related outages alone have cost the country between $18 and $32 billion a year on average since 2003. Severe weather is a primary driver of power outages.

Grid 2 first person