US electrical infrastructure near breaking point

sicophiliac

Too bad the economic stimulus package did not address this issue, 150 billion could have gone a long way in upgrading and maintaining our electrical grid.

HEADER_RACK · Intermediate Crude Joined: Feb 15, 2007 Posts: 540

All those electric cars!! They will be contributing to the demise of civilization!! Let's hear it for the cornies!! Laughing

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roccman

Yep - best get your wind generators up and panels bolted down.. Its gonna be a wild ride ahead of us.
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We are going back to roccland - me

lawnchair · Intermediate Crude Joined: Oct 20, 2004 Posts: 786

20 years of, averaging 2.2% annual growth in demand will do that to you. Double the population growth. 55% more power drawn than in 1988. Added demand about the size of a Missouri or a New Jersey every year.
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Homesteader

patience · Expert Joined: Jan 04, 2008 Posts: 1664

The son of our local electrical co-op board member told me to expect KWHR price to double in a couple years, due to new plant construction. If we get a carbon tax, Indiana coal-generated power will be costly indeed. Thus my solar system, and lots of usage cutbacks.
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Local fix-it guy..

frankthetank

What about those nuke plants? The McCain Nuke Initiative? Have they started building those yet? How many are completed?
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SILENTTODD

I heard Edward Teller tell me in 1966 we were going to have fusion by 1975. What happened!?
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lawnchair · Intermediate Crude Joined: Oct 20, 2004 Posts: 786

startswithearthquakes · Tar Sands Joined: May 27, 2008 Posts: 93

oh nooozz!!!1 Doom DOO00M DoOooOOMMm

cube · Fusion Joined: Mar 12, 2005 Posts: 3776

Twilight · Expert Joined: Mar 02, 2007 Posts: 3076 Location: UK

Perhaps as in the UK, there is no direct comparison between an old and new nuclear power plant due to the greatly increased size of the new ones? It is possible that what has been proposed would allow the US to "stay even".

The grid issue is very real though, and the last thing we need is to scale mass-ownership of mains-charged electric cars into this environment.
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cube · Fusion Joined: Mar 12, 2005 Posts: 3776

Twilight · Expert Joined: Mar 02, 2007 Posts: 3076 Location: UK

Yes, that does seem to be rather unlikely at the moment.
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Volatility. When life isn't exciting enough.

TreeFarmer · Heavy Crude Joined: Jun 26, 2007 Posts: 347

I think you are drastically overstating the impact of the "30 year life." That 30 years was a number picked, well 30 years ago, but probably has little current meaning. These plants undergo constant maintenance, like all plants, and many parts of them are very new. Now, might some parts need to be replaced in the future? Of course, but I'm betting many of these plants will run for 60 years, not because they have to but because they are still safe to operate.

TF