The U.S. energy grid is a complex net work of independently owned and operated power plants and transmission lines.
In the early days of commercial electric power, transmission of electric power at the same voltage as used by lighting and mechanical loads restricted the distance between generating plant and consumers. In 1882, generation was with direct current, which could not easily be increased in voltage for long-distance transmission. Different classes of loads (for example, lighting, fixed motors, and traction/railway systems) required different voltages, and so used different generators and circuits.
Due to this specialization of lines and because transmission was inefficient for low-voltage high-current circuits, generators needed to be near their loads.
Electrical Enegy, from generating power plants to electrical substations located near demand centers. This is distinct from the local wiring between high-voltage substations and customers, which is typically referred to as electric power distribution. Transmission lines, when interconnected with each other, become transmission networks. These are typically referred to as “power grids” or just “the grid”.
transmission and distribution lines were owned by the same company, but starting in the 1990s, many countries have made the regulation of the electricty market in ways that have led to the separation of the electricity transmission business from the distribution business. So basically the electical system in our country has become a lucrative business.
Nuclear power has been growing only slowly, far behind the rate of natural gas-fired power. the average retail price of electricity during 2002 averaged 7.25 cents per Kwh, down slightly from 7.32 cents per Kwh in 2001. Electricity prices in the United States fell every year between 1993 and 1999, but this trend reversed in 2000 and 2001. As of 2001, U.S. total installed electric generating capacity was 813 gigawatts (GW). Of this total, 74% was thermal (mainly coal and natural gas), 12% nuclear, 12% hydro, and 2% “renewables” (geothermal, solar, wind). The amount and geographical distribution of capacity by energy source is a function of availability and price of fuels and/or regulations. Capacity by energy source generally shows a geographical pattern such as: significant nuclear capacity in New England, coal in the central U.S., hydroelectric in the Pacific West, and natural-gas-fired capacity in the Coastal South.
“Smart grid” generally refers to a class of technology people are using to bring utility electricity delivery systems into the 21st century, using computer-based remote control and automation. The “grid” amounts to the networks that carry electricity from the plants where it is generated to consumers. The grid includes wires, substations, transformers, switches and much more. Smart simply means that its computarized. It includes adding two-way digital communication technology to devices associated with the grid. Each device on the network can be given sensors to gather data (power meters, voltage sensors, fault detectors, etc.), plus two-way digital communication between the device in the field and the utility’s network operations center. A key feature of the smart grid is automation technology that lets the utility adjust and control each individual device or millions of devices from a central location. Pretty cool stuff huh? welp kids thats all for US enrgy and smart grids! Thanks for reading
Source:
http://energy.gov/oe/technology-development/smart-grid
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_grid
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=110997398
