Brittle Power- PARTS 1-3 (+Notes) - Natural Capitalism Solutions

130Disasters Waiting to HappenOn 8 January 1981, a trash fire at the Utah State Prison apparently causedarcing in a major switchyard next door. 42 The resulting quadruple transmissionfailure blacked out all of Utah and parts of Idaho and Wyoming—someone and a half million people in all. 43 On 24 September 1980, most ofMontana was blacked out for about an hour, prompting editorial comment onthe vulnerability of “society’s electric heartbeat.” 44 Both these regions are ofspecial interest because they are officially planned to become a main source ofdomestic fuel to replace Mideast oil. This plan depends on coal mines, coalslurry pipelines, and synfuel plants, all of which are in turn extremelydependent on reliable electric supplies.Transmission is usually considered to involve lines carrying at least sixty-ninekilovolts, and bulk power transmission, over two hundred thirty kilovolts. 45 In all,there are more than three hundred sixty-five thousand circuit-miles of overheadtransmission lines in the United States. 46 They are all completely exposed to allmanner of hazards over great distances. Transmission lines have been interruptedby aircraft accidents (a National Guard helicopter cut a Tennessee ValleyAuthority line in 1976), explosions, equipment faults, broken shield wires (whichrun from the apex of one tower to the next), and even flying kites. 47 SouthernCalifornia Edison Company has experienced extensive damage to wooden-poledsubtransmission lines from brush fires; and on occasion, the fiery heat has ionizedthe air enough to short out high-voltage conductors. 48To the vulnerability of the lines themselves must be added that of the keyfacilities which transform and control their voltage at both ends. As theDefense Electric Power Administration put it:Main transmission lines are extremely difficult to protect against sabotage as theyare widespread over each state and traverse remote rugged and unsettled area forthousands of miles. While these facilities are periodically patrolled, ample time isavailable for a saboteur to work unobserved. It may be comparatively easy to damagethis part of a system, but it is readily repaired. Damage to remote controlled orautomatic substation equipment could make repairs and operation more difficult. 49The analogy with pipelines is clear enough. The line, save in especiallyawkward locations, is far quicker to repair than its interchanges and operationalsystems: terminals for pipelines, high-voltage substations for electrictransmission. Without those devices, no energy can enter or leave the lines.Substations and distribution networksA principal point of vulnerability, though seldom capable of blacking outmore than a relatively local area, is the substation, which transforms trans-