[tarzan271]

I am curious why people living near large hydroelectric plants will be effected if the "Dooms-Day" scenario comes about. Water will still provide electricity to those near large dams such as the Grand Coulie or Hoover right?

I have been thinking about this for a while, but I am not quite sure how our nations electrical grid totally works. To me, electricity should be cheeper near the source.

Please enlighten me.

[tarzan271]

My town is all hydro power. So, do you think it would be a good idea to invest in a solar/wind on-grid setup to use and sell back to the power co.? We have 1/3 acre with a large shop and wood fireplace inserts. We were thinking about an off-grid cabin, but being in-town and still living a subsitence lifestyle might be better. Green houses, chickens, hunting, fishing, etc... Any advice, or am I way off?

[mekrob]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'H')ow does our electrical grid work?

[gnm]

Hmmmm I could answer this in a few ways....

1. duct-tape and prayers

2. barely!

3. whoever has the most money gets the juice!

-G

[Aaron]

Electric grids are closed loops... everybody on the loop gets access to the power it carries.

Grids are divided up by geography, into regions.

Simply put, to get electricity to you, it must have an unbroken path.

An interruption in transmission means everyone downstream of the interruption is without power.

The reality is more complex, but the basic principals still apply.

[roel]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Aaron', 'E')lectric grids are closed loops... everybody on the loop gets access to the power it carries.

Simply put, to get electricity to you, it must have an unbroken path.

The reality is more complex, but the basic principals still apply.

[NEOPO]

Here one example of how one day it might not work.

Geomagnetic storm

Did ya cetch that bit about "pipelines"?

Pipelines
Rapidly fluctuating geomagnetic fields can induce currents into pipelines. During these times, several problems can arise for pipeline engineers. Flow meters in the pipeline can transmit erroneous flow information, and the corrosion rate of the pipeline is dramatically increased. If engineers unwittingly attempt to balance the current during a geomagnetic storm, corrosion rates may increase even more. Pipeline managers routinely receive alerts and warnings to help them provide an efficient and long-lived system.

Why did'nt BP think of that?!?

Oh goody we have this to look forward to by 2010 or the latest 2015.

The concept of selling excess electricity caught on but I dont think the grid is that interconnected.

[FishAreBest]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('tarzan271', 'T')o me, electricity should be cheeper near the source.

[dbuckley]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'T')hose near hydro will fare better because there is less transmission loss.

[Denny]

As power costs increase due to fuel prices, all that wil happen is that the utilities owning hydro sources will achieve higher profits on this. As these are generally regulated, the impact is just shared among all consumers, though wiht moves afoot to implement time of day prcing, I can see the day when electtricity used at midnight wil cost us less than power used t 6 pm.

There are some small exceptions in which being near a renewable source may have advantages, some cases in which small utilities own their own hydro source, for instance.

But, politics factors into all of this. If the day comes when electric power is rationed, do you think because you happen to live in Niagara Falls you will get all the power you want, but the state legislators in Albany will be using candles? Dream on.

[Niagara]

During the huge blackout during the summer of 2003, someone here was on the ball and quickly isolated the Niagara region from the grid (we're near to a huge hydro-electric project).

Our power barely hiccupped, while nearby Toronto and most of Ontario was out for a few days.

[FatherOfTwo]

Oh Jeez Louise. Where to start, where to start.

Let’s start with the original question
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') am curious why people living near large hydroelectric plants will be effected if the "Dooms-Day" scenario comes about. Water will still provide electricity to those near large dams such as the Grand Coulie or Hoover right?

[drew]

Fof2's explanation can use some adding to, so here goes. In NA power is generated in 3 phases of 60 cycles/second spaced evenly apart. The current is ac-that is to say it switches direction/polarity sixty times a second. The current feeds to ground after it goes through use in a 'load' (washer, machine, light, etc). The entire grid must be not only entirely in phase (in all three phases), but must also be at the exact same voltage. Voltage and amperage is manipulated at each generating point, in order to keep this very fine balance. This is why it took so long for the power to come back in 03-everything had to be resynchronized at start up. As for phases, most of your house uses only one (120V), except stoves and dryers which uses 2 (240V). Industry uses all three. The grid steps up or reduces voltage for transmission needs and for end use.

Drew

[mortifiedpenguin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('roel', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Aaron', 'E')lectric grids are closed loops... everybody on the loop gets access to the power it carries.

Simply put, to get electricity to you, it must have an unbroken path.

The reality is more complex, but the basic principals still apply.

[grabby]

Macrostuffed is making a huge switching computer center and building it next to the biggest hydro dam in USA. Googles is building a huge computer switching system next to a large hydro dam and Yahoo is building a large building in a county near a large hydro dam.

I live in theat state and they know what is coming down, hydro is the only sure bet until it too goes down.


l

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'L')a Center, WA - A man who cut his way through the chain-link fence of a power station and was electrocuted Wednesday has been identified as 47-year-old Bruce Delbert Wallace
...
Sheriff's deputies said Thursday that they still suspect that Wallace entered the 7,200-volt Clark Public Utilities regulator station ignoring signs that warned of its danger to steal copper wiring he planned to sell as scrap.

Officials in this region and others have reported an increase in copper theft, from power stations and utility poles, often committed by methamphetamine users.

[NEOPO]

I get the funny feeling most of these books to be written will be e-books

[chris-h]

yes.

[TorrKing]

What if the hydroelectric stations are blown up by rioting masses? A similar situation to what is currently seen in Bangladesh.