Recent attacks on a pair of substations in the Pacific Northwest put the spotlight on America s electric grid – and caused one expert to question the public s preparedness for a large-scale disruption in power.
The U.S. power system is centralized. We rely on large, mostly fossil-fuel-burning plants to generate electricity. It's sent out on high-voltage wires over long distances (the grid). Substations step it down to lower voltages to power your home or business. An attack, a storm or other disruption can affect the wider network. But what if there was another way a more decentralized solution?
Ten days after two electrical substations in central North Carolina were knocked out by gunfire, there are still more questions than answers about the incident. The outage left about 45,000 customers without power, some for as long as five days