Walter Yu, P.E., LEED AP

Vital to our everyday needs but suffering from innovation and development, electrical grids badly need upgrade.

The National Academy of Engineering recently named the electrical grid as its greatest technological achievement of the 20th century despite such inventions as the automobile and space program.

Whether we know it or not, the electrical grid profoundly affects our everyday lives. As we grow more reliant on electrical devices (think email, computers, etc.), the need for stable and sustainable energy sources has become more important than ever before.

The health of our electrical grids is slowly declining as demand grows but the system itself is aging without much innovation to keep up with the growing demand. As more demand is placed on the system, it grows more unstable leading to more blackouts, large inefficiencies during transmission over power lines (see photo) and be vulnerable from cyber attacks due to lack of firewalls.

The Obama administration pledged $3.4 billion to improve the health of the system and begin incorporating green technologies to solve these vulnerabilities. However, some experts estimate that the overall cost of updating the electrical grid to be over $100 billion.

The new system, dubbed the smart grid by engineers and researchers in the industry, would be able to not only push power to users but receive it back as well. Current systems only deliver energy but not allow energy to be sent back and coordinated by the grid when not in use. Having this ability would allow the grid to repair itself in the case of a black out or place more energy in its reserves for peak times during the day and seasons such as summer and winter.  This system would work similar to the battery alternator in our cars, which charge up the main battery as we drive.

In the short term, users can improve the health of the system but making small adjustments to their appliance usage. Changing to more efficient fluorescent or LED light bulbs and saving heavy usage during non-peak hours. The guidelines are the same as saving water – use less whenever possible and avoid maxing out usage during evening hours or day time hours in the summer due to air conditioning demand.

Such small but wide-spread savings across the grid can lead to big reduction in energy usage. The Department of Energy predicts that phasing out incandescent light bulbs for LED ones across the country can save up to $265 billion in energy usage, prevent the construction of 40 new power plants needed to meet future demand and cut demand by 30%. These savings would come from light bulbs everywhere, not just in our homes, but in office buildings, street lamps and outside lighting.

As our lives are becoming more wired and reliant on computers and Internet, so too has our existing electrical grid. Power utility companies rely on them to control power plants and the electrical grid. The existing grid is interconnected even though it is controlled regionally by different utility companies, all with different methods of managing security and stability on their portion of the grid. These conditions may invite disaster in the form of cyber attacks from hackers looking to control or damage our power, water and sewage systems.

Although most of us assume hackers are after information, such as with the recent Chinese cyber attacks on Google servers, but some hackers serve the interest of other countries looking to disrupt or permanently damage infrastructure systems. In short, many countries are using cyber attacks that can lead to physical damage of vital systems and pose a serious threat to national security.

Both the NSA and CIA have warned against cyber attacks and a need for increased security against foreign and domestic attacks.  Successful attacks can cause disruptions to cellphone networks, air traffic control and send financial markets into a panic. Because so many other systems rely on the electrical grid and therefore create a closed system, the health of the grid affects everything else connected to it.

In conclusion, the cost of upgrading the grid may be large but is necessary because of threats of national security and impacts it may have to our everyday lives in both the short and long-term.

Underwater line transmission on the Trans Bay Cable project in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Alternative energy is all the rage these days with everything from salt water desalination to cellulose being suggested as potential sources of energy. But when it comes to ways to deliver that energy to consumers, power utilities have been mostly on land transmission lines carried over transmission towers.

These towers have been controversial not only for their aesthetic effect but more important, their health effects. The high voltage carried by the lines cause them to emit EMF waves which have been known to cause adverse health effects.

As a result, power companies are re-thinking their modes of transmission in this New York Times article.

One such company is Transmission Developers (based in Toronto, Canada), which is focusing on underwater transmission line projects that can eliminate the need for transmission towers on land.

Underwater installation even has the cautious support of environmental groups, which have vehemently protested against transmission via land. The biggest environmental impact so far seems to be potential industrial pollutants being disturbed into the water during installation.

The cost of underwater transmission is comparable to land transmission (approx. $10M/mile vs. $1-4M/mile, respectively). Some of the additional cost is used to convert the energy to DC current (which is easier to transport in underwater cables), and may be offset when the line help open up new markets traditionally served only by land transmission lines.

Locally here in the Bay Area, the Trans Bay Cable project laid 33 miles of underwater transmission line to connect the power grid.

In conclusion, it looks like power companies are getting serious about not only greening their energy sources but transmission as well.

Taking Hwy 1 underground between Pacifica and Montara.

The much-anticipated Devil’s Slide tunnel project may soon reach the light at the end of the tunnel (literally). Work crews have been rotating between shifts to maintain a 24-hour production schedule.

The project moved ahead after numerous land slides in recent years that have posed a serious safety issue to drivers and cause the roadway to be closed during repairs (not to mention cost for emergency repairs).

According to the Caltrans website, the two tunnels will connect Hwy 1 between Pacifica and Montata, running about 4200-ft. (about three-quarters of a mile) in length. Construction was sequenced the two bores to be 60 yards apart so there would be no damaged between the bores due to blasting to remove rock.

The Monterey Herald covered the story in a brief article, citing project completion in fall of this year.

The project incorporates not only the tunnels but a bridge (super structure) approach into the tunnels and roadway re-alignment of Hwy 1. Inside the tunnels, electrical, metering and ventilation systems will regulate vital systems such as air monitoring for drivers.

The New Austrian Tunneling Method is used for the tunnel boring operation, relying on the strength of surrounding rock and shotcrete walls behind it to maintain the integrity of the tunnel during and after construction.

If operations run smoothly, Caltrans will indeed again be living up to its slogan of “improving mobility across California”.