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Jonathan Bachman / Reuters
The Superdome field in partial darkness the NFL Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans, Sunday.
While the reasons for the 34-minute power outage during Sunday’s Super Bowl remain largely unknown, advocates for a smarter energy grid say it is the latest example of why the nation needs desperately to invest in its electricity infrastructure.
The blackout in New Orleans, coupled with the recent prolonged outages in New York and New Jersey caused by Hurricane Sandy, have put on display for the world how vulnerable America can be to losing its lights. Experts say it is a vulnerability that could have potentially crippling effects.
“The grid has all these parts where accidents can occur, and many accidents have the potential to create widespread problems,” said Susan Tierney, co-author of a National Research Council report that details the flaws in how the country gets its power.
She likened it to the nation’s interstate system, with main arteries and smaller back roads, so interconnected that a problem is rarely isolated.
The National Research Council report, completed in 2007 but declassified by the Department of Homeland Security last November, warns that a coordinated strike on the electric grid could have devastating effects on the American economy and psyche.
The non-partisan report said: "If carried out in a carefully planned way, by people who knew what they were doing, such an attack could deny large regions of the country access to bulk system power for weeks or even months. An event of this magnitude and duration could lead to turmoil, widespread public fear, and an image of helplessness that would play directly into the hands of the terrorists.”
Along with the physical damage and darkness, an attack on the nation’s electrical grid could cause, the biggest impact could be devastating financially, according to Tierney.
“Almost every aspect of our economy is touched by electricity, from banking to hospitals to world markets,” she said. “The worst case scenario could be devastating.”
Aging infrastructure
Like the roads and bridges that make up America’s physical infrastructure, its electrical infrastructure is getting more ancient.
And University of Minnesota Professor Massoud Amin, an expert on the U.S. electrical grid, said our increasingly digital society is only causing more strain.
“You’re dealing with an aging infrastructure that is not made for this century’s demands,” he said.
Amin’s research shows America’s problems with electricity are getting worse. There were 149 power outages that affected at least 50,000 from 2000-2004, a number that rose to 349 from 2005-2009.
Though questions surround what exactly caused the lights to go out in the Big Easy, Amin said he believes a smarter grid would have prevented the incident.
He advocates for a self-healing infrastructure that can communicate when problems arise, anticipate potential issues and isolate the area where the problem arises.
While energy experts and politicians on both sides of the aisle agree something needs to be done, little has been.
The U.S. is quickly falling behind European countries in terms of its energy reliability, according to John Kelly, executive director of Galvin Power Initiative, which compares the energy reliability of countries around the world. [PDF link]
“We’re not improving right now,” said Kelly.
The reason, both Amin and Tierney agree, comes down to unwillingness in both the public and private sector to put in the cash.
To create a smarter grid, money must go into things like research and development, security systems and standardizing equipment to allow defective parts to quickly be swapped out.
Cost savings
With an increasing number of weather-related catastrophes that some have attributed to climate change, time is an even more pressing issue. Money is being spent repairing old electrical lines instead of on new technologies.
A national smart grid could cost up between $338 billion to $476 billion over the next 20 years, according to a 2011 study by the Electric Power Research Institute.
“There is a lot of uncertainty, a lot of stake holders and some major concerns about return on investment,” said Amin. “Filling potholes and putting money into education is seen as a better investment than electric.”
But the director of the University of Minnesota’s Technological Leadership Institute added that much of the investment has been stifled because, by-and-large, Americans are happy with their electrical service.
“It’s not to say the sky is falling,” said Amin. “When these things happen they bother us. The problem we should worry about is when they become more than just a bother.”
Leave a Comment:
Are you kidding? Mr. Obama is too focused on gun rights, gay rights and illegal immigration to worry about our real problems in this country. That also goes for his neglect of the economy and the stagnant unemployment rate of 8%. Oh well, four more years.
Hey truth, have you read any newspaper lately? You need to catch up with the times before you start spouting out that stale, trite rhetoric.
In response to TruthComesHere, apparently you don't know the "truth". In running for his first term Mr. Obama stated that he would bankrupt all coal fired power plants by making it to expensive for them to stay in business. "Clean energy" and not just guns were on his mind. And to Needaplan, fossil fuel players are not the ones using their influence to block progress. When fossil-fuel is eliminated watch for your energy bills to skyrocket, this coupled with a "smart grid" which I do believe we need, your power will be disrupted when the demand is there but the supply is not. It will be the individual home owner that will be cut off so that those who are deemed more worthy i.e. the bigger profit will be left on.
Discipline and responsibility will diminish, and sometimes vanish, when those in supervisory capacities are willing to "look the other way". We see this almost every day with uncaring police, deviant priests, reckless school teachers, corrupt politicians, and neglectful parents. And the real tragedy in these cases is that an innocent victim often pays the price.
The people of Iraq should be happy. They were complaining that after we invaded their country the electrical grid left them without power for hours at a time. Now they can see that this normal in a millitary controlled super power. Just wait until we invade Iran to help them, soon we can help all of the middle east to become a great power like us. We do not need an improved grid just give us more ships, planes, and bombs.
A smart grid just opens up a whole new can of worms with new kinds of vulnerabilities. Hacking being the big one.
Power isn't a total necessity unless you are in an ICU on a respirator or something. Inconvenient that the Super Bowl lost power for half an hour, but so what. If you have a well, buy a generator or go stay with family, friends, or at a shelter if you need to.
There are upgrades and fixes that need to be done, but you don't need to spend a $hit load of $$$ just because you can.
We are 16 trillion dollars in debt and heading for 20. If we direct .5 trillion for this smart grid project, we must cut that amount from other expenditures.
How about if we get GM to repay their loan and stop subsidizing their Smart car sales? When is the Chrysler Jeep plant going to be up and running in China? Where are the shovel ready projects? Why was the debt not cut in half by the end of Obama's first term. Where are the savings from Obamacare? What happened to not raising taxes during a recession? When will Obama replace Jesus in the red print in the Bible?
soon
Yes, we need a smart grid developed by the Chinese!
Chinese? They haven't figured out how to deal with smog, before or after it's been produced by the coal processing plants belching out all kinds of insidious pollutants - you're going to trust them with a power grid? Don't think so
Government and power companies are monopolistic
yes we need a smart grid, if it was created the power grid it would efffect customers rates(UP) to compensate the utility companies for these improvements(projects). They are guaranteed a certain amount of profit.
Government over a several decades
Jobs 4 plus years
Smart grid, immigration, simplify tax code, health care, Student loan education model
Privacy - No improvements or remedies for a decade or more
Great performance by our government
The list just keep growing along with entitlements for these same governing offiicals
whom have not accomplished any of the above goals
But first he must do away with term limits though executive order so he can pass the budget
Just who is going to pay for this? Obama has spent all of our money. We now buy China Aircraft Carriers with the interest we send them. The Dems have started again with the sub-prime lending game that collapsed our economy before. All of this is just a game to raise taxes and destroy our country.
Obama has spent all of our money? Do you have a receipt and can you account for "all of our money"? We were in the hole when he started. We should ask Bush for his receipts.
Super bowl blackout was just a sign of things to come . Now they want more smart grids which they already have but now they will be able to charge more. Smart meters on houses are bad for your health. The signals a smart meter sent out go right through the walls of your house. They don't just send one signal a day like the poser company says they send signals all during the day and they also communicate with the neighbors meters
you knew it was coming
Instead of subsidizing oil companies, like this useless Congress is now, how about putting that money to smart grids and a better infrastucture across the country. Oil companies certainly don't need tax payer money.
M., we've been subsidizing oil companies for decades and few people have complained about gas NOT costing $8.00/gal.
Let me guess what MSNBC/libs/Obama really wants is a smart grid powered by wind turbines and solar panels?
Thanks Dan - I was wondering who would blame Obama for the power grid.
I'm not blaming him; I'm just restating what he said he wants.
It all sounds good but the outage had nothing to do with the grid or the utility company. It is a Dome issue. Had an outage occured accociated with the utility, the utility itself would have known electronically and the utilities commision of Louisiana would have been notified. The grid of America as a whole may need attention but this incident was isolated to Dome equipment. I guess it would be similar to your main breaker tripping to your home and I'll bet many of you know what that is.
This is 2013---and the United States can not operate a power grid properly--SAD
Alan, that's not true. This article is a typical "the sky is falling" piece by an NBC writer. Considering there are 330 million electricity users across a wide range of differing terrain and weather, the US does pretty good. Can it use improement? Of course, but what can't?
Every time there's a major storm, tornado, hurricane, etc., the electrical lines are re-strung on the "telephone poles". It would be more secure and insulated if the lines were buried but that costs $$. I think that's a ridiculous argument as the higher cost would be a one time deal, rather than repair/pay over and over again. That's money not well spent.
America is closer to "Revolution" American's old habits die hard no matter what because they are way way stupid!!! I strongly believe that African Americans are the BAD influence to our country in many many ways... They will deny that they are bad influence to this nation.. That's my view..
who really cares that it happened or why??? what's all the hype over lights going out? They played, they won/lost it's over.. Geez.
In response to "TruthComesHere", apparently you don't know the truth. President Obama when he first ran for office stated that he would bankrupt the coal fired industry or make it to expensive for them to stay in business. His focus was on "clean air" or "green" power, which you pay for with taxes if you work a job. And to "Needaplan" fossil-fuel is not the one blocking progress. While I do believe we need a "smart grid" its purpose is to sense demand and supply thereby cutting off certain people, i.e. less profitable and keeping those who need it most, the business.
We do have a major problem with our electric infrastructure and it costs us jobs. Data centers are moving to countries with a stable flow of power. We need to up-grade our system as soon as possible to create more jobs and keep the industries that we do have.