IT IS A fact of life that the modern economy cannot operate without electric power. When the northeastern United States fell into darkness in mid-August, the affected cities essentially ceased to function. As soon as the lights started to come back on, the blame game began; every interested party was very concerned with making sure that it appeared to be someone else's fault. Truth be told, it will likely be several months before we really know what caused this massive blackout; however, the blackout shows us several underlying problems with the way we generate and distribute electric power in this country.
On the generating side of the equation, our country is plagued by a problem known as "not in my backyard" -- everyone wants more power, but no one wants a power plant near them. In some areas of the country, it is simply impossible to build a large-scale power plant. Without a local source of power, the local electrical grid must import the electricity from elsewhere.
The lack of regional generation capacity increases strain on the national grid, which at this point is one of the weakest links in the chain. Our ability to transmit electrical power long distances is limited by the age of the grid and the physical factors of the amount of electricity we are trying to transport.
With the "not in my backyard" syndrome firmly in place and the age and limited capacity of the national grid rearing its ugly head, many experts are recommending the increased usage of small 'peak usage' generators. These are mainly natural gas-fired units that only operate during normal business hours. Without the large smokestacks of the bigger power plants, they are more accepted by the public. However, the benefits of these smaller capacity "peak usage" generators is outweighed by the fact that they use a great deal more fuel than the larger plants.
Because small, peak usage generators are not very efficient, the best option is to build larger plants and then transport the electricity as short of a distance as possible.
The grid system is in need of a major upgrade before building large-scale new plants can be profitable. The upgrade of the grid system cannot be motivated by the government as some might suggest. Unless we are prepared to surrender the entire power grid of this country over to the government or a single corporation, one congressional bill will not solve the problems of upgrading the system.
In order for the electrical grid to be upgraded, a certain degree of deregulation is required; the electric grid can be compared in many ways to the Internet. One company's data can flow across the networks of several different companies, even competitors, before it reaches the end users who pay for access to the network or for content. The fees filter back to pay the various companies whose resources were used. All of this happens without a large government oversight and is handled between private companies. Granted, the Internet's distributed architecture makes this easier, but it can be applied to the electric grid. We must encourage deregulation to the point where it is profitable for companies to build an upgraded distribution network.
We need to encourage legislation that removes many of the roadblocks to building new power plants, especially nuclear plants. A new nuclear power plant has not been built since 1979 in this country. Contrary to the Cold War-era perception that everything with the word nuclear in it is evil, nuclear power is one of the safest, cleanest ways to generate electricity. The only byproduct, while hazardous, is produced in such comparatively small quantities that it can be easily contained. Nuclear power is significantly less expensive to produce than hydroelectric and solar power, and it releases no greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, unlike coal and gas-fired plants.
New technologies that have been developed since 1979 make these plants even safer. Pebble-bed reactors, invented in the late 1990s, virtually eliminate the possibility of a meltdown. The nuclear material is contained in lead balls (pebbles) ensuring that no harmful radiation can escape. Legislation removing some of the roadblocks to building and operating a nuclear plant should be considered, both to protect the environment and encourage healthy competition in the industry.
Once the electric grid has been privatized to the point that it is once again profitable to build new transmission towers, and once the "not in my backyard" syndrome has been eased by legislation making it easier to build such towers, we will find that the electric grid is up to the task of moving generated electricity around the country. With a solid electric grid in place, it becomes profitable for companies to build larger power plants. In the end, it will be good old-fashioned capitalism that keeps the computers and factories running.
(Daniel Bagley's column appears Mondays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at dbagley@cavalierdaily.com)
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