ComEd Power Grid Is Failing

We all understand that when a big storm hits an area there is some chance that our power will go out for a little while. We may not like it, and we may push to work with energy companies that limit such outages, but we understand that it happens. However, even the most understanding person would be rightfully upset if a power outage that happened on a Monday left them without power all the way through Saturday. And yet that's exactly what happened recently to tens of thousands of ComEd customers in northern Illinois.

The storm that ripped through Northern Illinois was a big storm but it wasn't actually unusually large. It wasn't a huge hurricane. It didn't even end up causing a single tornado. It was just a big storm. And yet the storm resulted in a power outage for more than three quarters of a million Northern Illinois ComEd customers. Some of them were lucky enough to have their power restored in a relatively timely manner but tens of thousands of them went without residential power for more than five days.

Think about what it would be like to live in your home with no power for five days. How exactly would you spend your time? How would you cool your home? How would you cook your food? These customers had little choice but to figure out the answers to these questions until ComEd was able to get the power up and running days after the storm. Surely they are concerned that the next big storm will just bring the same problem again.

ComEd wants to create a smart grid system. They have been using the example of this big storm and resulting huge power outages to lobby for the Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act, which would allow them to create the smart grid. The smart grid would help to monitor electricity demand so that energy production can be shifted around to reduce outages. It would also reportedly help in getting power up and running faster after an outage. However, not all residents want to pay the added cost that would show up on their ComEd electric bill in order to create this smart grid. The legislation faces the treat of a veto from the state's governor.

Source: http://www.nwherald.com/2011/07/19/power-grid-inadequate/a1fe0qw/