The nation's electrical grids were tested over the last week. Did they pass?

The nation's electrical grids² were tested over the last week. Did they pass?

Transcript³

The recent winter storm could have created another disaster: massive power outages. But luck and planning kept the electricity flowing — for the most part.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

The winter storm last week brought record cold temperatures to much of the United States.

(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)

DAVID MUIR: A brutal⁴ blast of life-threatening cold from the Canadian border to the Gulf⁵ Coast.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Look at this Arctic surge moving.

BRITLEY RITZ: Forty-three degrees to 10 degrees within just 10 minutes.

LAWRENCE KARNOW: Even Atlanta feels like -5 degrees.

MART?NEZ: And that meant record pressure on the electric grid¹ as heaters across the country kicked in to help keep people warm. But despite some strain on the grid, the nation's energy system did not collapse⁶. NPR's Camila Domonoske joins us to discuss. So how big of a challenge was this for the electric grid?

CAMILA DOMONOSKE, BYLINE⁷: It was pretty significant. And to be clear, what we're talking about here isn't individual poles going down in a storm. That really is significant to the people in the neighborhood who are affected⁸. But the risk with this kind of situation is actually about supplying an entire region - huge parts of the country - just based on how much demand there is at one time. It got really cold in this storm, and the area that was affected was huge. There were records set for electricity demand in the Southwest, in Texas, in Tennessee. In Texas, they underestimated how much power there would be, which is a really dangerous situation for a grid. And cold weather also affects power production. So this was a real test.

MART?NEZ: All right, so a lot of strain. How did the grid do?

DOMONOSKE: Well, it didn't give out. You have to remember, there are a bunch of different grids in what we call our grid. Some of them struggled and some of them did better than others. I spoke⁹ with Morris Greenberg. He's an analyst¹⁰ with S&P 500 who's been tracking the power sector¹¹ for more than 25 years. I asked him what grade he would give utilities overall.

MORRIS GREENBERG: Given how broad or large the system was and how low the temperatures got, I would think, you know, a B would be a reasonable grade for this.

DOMONOSKE: There were some outages, some rolling blackouts from systems that couldn't supply enough power - so not A-plus work. But certainly, you know, he says it could be a lot worse. And we all remember what happened in Texas in 2021. That's what a lot worse can look like.

MART?NEZ: Yes, we do remember that. So, OK, then why weren't things worse? I mean, was it luck or just preparation?

DOMONOSKE: A little bit of both. On the preparation side, there has been winterization, making sure that power plants can keep running when it gets really cold. Things like that happened, particularly in Texas. On the luck side, there were a lot of things. This happened right before a holiday weekend. That means demand is on the lower side anyway. It happened early in the winter. That terrible storm in Texas that the grid nearly collapsed¹² - that was in February. Right now, there's still a lot of natural gas in storage because it's early in the season.

It's also important that the super cold temperatures sort of moved across the country. So early on, extra power from out East could be sent West. Later on, extra power from the West could be sent East to manage the really intense moments. And there was one more bit of luck that came from the storm itself.

GREENBERG: This system was accompanied by pretty strong winds, which meant that wind chill temperatures were lower. But it also meant that, in general, wind generation was higher.

DOMONOSKE: So more wind power - that wind might not have felt lucky if you were standing¹³ in it, but it did help keep the lights on.

MART?NEZ: Yeah, I guess we can't count on that with every cold snap, though. What do you think, though, this means for the crystal ball for the electric grid?

DOMONOSKE: I mean, it means that conversations about grid reliability¹⁴ are not going away, especially because, you know, I mentioned all these areas that set new records for demand in the winter. Well, demand is just going to keep going up, especially as the fight against climate change kicks in. People are going to switch to electric vehicles, electric stoves, electric home-heating systems. That means less carbon dioxide, but it also means more pressure on the electric grid, including in storms like this, demand switching from natural gas and oil to electricity to run a lot of heat pumps in the winter. So as areas look at future demand going up and up, you know, utilities need to plan ahead and be prepared for extra demand coming in the seasons to come.

MART?NEZ: And what about the rest of the energy system?

DOMONOSKE: Yeah, we're talking a lot about electricity here, but this storm put pressure on other systems, too. I mentioned there are decent supplies of natural gas right now, at least in the parts of the country that were the coldest in the storm. There's plenty of propane, too. Some refineries¹⁵ on the coast - on the Gulf Coast - did have to shut down, which has put pressure on supplies of crude oil and gasoline. That's nudging gasoline prices up. But they have been dropping for weeks, so drivers aren't currently feeling too much of a pinch there either.

MART?NEZ: That's NPR's Camila Domonoske. Thanks a lot.

DOMONOSKE: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF DECEPTIKON'S "INACCESSIBILITY")

1 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

2 grids   

n.格子( grid的名词复数 )；地图上的坐标方格；（输电线路、天然气管道等的）系统网络；（汽车比赛）赛车起跑线

参考例句：

• Typical framed structures are beams, grids, plane and space frames or trusses. 典型构架结构为梁、格栅、平面的和空间的框架或桁架。 来自辞典例句
• The machines deliver trimmed grids for use or stock. 这种机器铸出修整过的板栅，以供使用或储存。 来自辞典例句

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

5 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

6 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

11 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

12 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

13 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

14 reliability   

n.可靠性，确实性

参考例句：

• We mustn't presume too much upon the reliability of such sources.我们不应过分指望这类消息来源的可靠性。
• I can assure you of the reliability of the information.我向你保证这消息可靠。

15 refineries   

精炼厂( refinery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The efforts on closedown and suspension of small sugar refineries, small saccharin refineries and small paper mills are also being carried out in steps. 关停小糖厂、小糖精厂、小造纸厂的工作也已逐步展开。
• Hence the sitting of refineries is at a distance from population centres. 所以，炼油厂的厂址总在远离人口集中的地方。