Here's More Background....
information on Microgrids:
Link to Article
This is a very "hot" topic, even here in the Midwest. There's a lot of interest, especially in light of the price increases that we will be seeing with natural gas fired units. There's going to be sticker shock this winter, if current gas price trends are any indicator.
An interesting side note is how the issue of microgrids is starting to play out in some local communities. There's several issues being raised, and it's interesting to see how the different parties are lining up. For example:
1) Both the major local utility (initially), and several environmentalist groups are not in favor of the microgrids. The local major utility is coming around, but not the environmentalists. The utility was looking at this as loss of business, but then started to look at all the aspects (bad press from service disruption, less pressure on having to build expensive new capacity, etc.), and they are much more open to the microgrid concept. Now, still got to make it work, but they are at least ready to make the attempt.
The environmentalists, not so much. Their big issue is global warming, and they feel that these smaller microgrid based "operating areas" will not only increase the potential for global warming, but will be much harder to deal with, because not only would there be more of them (vrs. several large power producers), but the microgrids will all be local based, and trying to regulate local microgrids for global warming is going to be a terribly difficult "sell" to the politicans. It's one thing to go after big corporate interests, it's a whole different situation to go after units of local governments, i.e. Taxpayers/Voters. Remember,as the late Tip O'Neal used to say, "All Politics is Local".
2) The funding issue. Now, this is actually coming around. Many states now provide for local units of government, such as municipalities and Counties to create what are called "Special Service" taxing districts, where tax exempt bonds can be issued for capital development within a specified area, which can easily apply to a microgrid service area.
3) It's still a few years out, but if we get a really good 2-3 day electric power service "interruption", things will boil over really fast. People used to 24/7 availability of unlimited electric power get really, really cranky when they got to deal with several days of no juice. Particularly if it's really hot (no A/C) or really cold (remember, most 90+ gas furnaces have electronic control units with micro circuit boards). That's when you will see things jump into high gear.
More Microgrid background...
From MIT's Technology Review: Lifeline for Renewable Power
Quote:
In one of the more advanced pilot projects testing such a system, the Minneapolis-based utility Xcel Energy and several vendors are investing $100 million to install a smart-grid infrastructure in Boulder, CO. These days, a 115-person Xcel crew is out full time, installing two-way electric meters at 50,000 houses. Homeowners are getting software that lets them view and manage their energy consumption on the Web, and some of their appliances are being fitted with switches that will let the utility shut them off remotely during periods of high demand.
Smart-grid technologies could reduce overall electricity consumption by 6 percent and peak demand by as much as 27 percent. The peak-demand reductions alone would save between $175 billion and $332 billion over 20 years, according to the Brattle Group, a consultancy in Cambridge, MA. Not only would lower demand free up transmission capacity, but the capital investment that would otherwise be needed for new conventional power plants could be redirected to renewables. That's because smart-grid technologies would make small installations of wind turbines and photovoltaic panels much more practical. "They will enable much larger amounts of renewables to be integrated on the grid and lower the effective overall system-wide cost of those renewables," says the Brattle Group's Peter Fox-Penner.
I'm kinda partial to plan Z
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ken White
Been known for a while so Plan b has to be used...;)
Make sure that whatever pain they bring hurts them too and preferably can be clearly seen as hurting a whole lot worse than us:D
Something I always was amazed by
Quote:
Originally Posted by
selil
Currently that is the primary protection. Mutually assured destruction is inherently part of the equation when dealing with nation-state on nation-state. When terrorism enters the picture that becomes a bit of thorny issue.
Was how business, local and regional law enforcement, emergency services, heck just about any given group you look at seem absolutely chaotic under "normal" working conditions but let an emergency take place and all the sudden they can turn into a well oiled machine with all the directional paths well defined and each piece working solidly toward a task.
Maybe thats because they spend a lot more time on working out the how to's in relation how to deal with X condition should it happen then they do just working out their normal day to day relationships. Seems like the same should go for limited non-state actors response as well.
If they know that knocking out x,y, and Z may cause panic but it also will bring down the focus that comes with that scenario (meaning in short their gonna get a lot more effective and focused attention than they would otherwise) it should help to adjust their cost benefit analysis on what they want to achieve.
Example: If you take out a small portion of the grid there would be a lot more whining and disgruntlement among the populous then if you take down a big chunk of it. IF the big chunk was taken down there's gonna be a lot more screams to kill the #$@# who did it then there would be whining over why theres no power.
Rambling and almost nonsensical I know but not sure how to put it differently.
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