Sad Socket’s Eight Reasons to Advocate for Change

Sad Socket was expecting more from our presidential candidates.

During their acceptance speeches at their respective national conventions in Denver and Minneapolis, Sad Socket anticipated that Senators Obama and McCain would talk about the importance of grid modernization and its critical role in securing our energy future. But they didn’t. Both candidates talked about the need for energy reform, such as reducing our dependence on foreign oil, using more renewable energy and promoting energy efficiency, but did not discuss the key to these reforms — modernizing grid infrastructure. While grid modernization is mentioned in each campaign’s energy plan, it has not been emphasized their public comments on a national level.

Here are Sad Socket’s eight reasons why Obama and McCain should make grid modernization a priority and take a stand on this issue from the podium.

1. We need electricity as much as oil. Americans are just as dependent on electricity as we are on oil. We use electricity to power our lives — for transportation, health care, business, leisure and national security. We are dependent on an outdated, unreliable and polluting electricity grid to provide us the necessary power to our homes, businesses and lives. Without electricity, our communities and economies shut down. Without reliable power, business operations and American lives are placed in jeopardy.
2. To take full advantage of renewables, we need a smarter grid. Whether Democrat or Republican (or Al Gore or T. Boone Pickens), we all agree that we need to start generating more electricity from alternative sources of energy — solar, wind, geothermal and biomass energy. However, to generate power from Earth-friendly renewable sources, we need a grid that is smart enough to automatically adapt to the fluctuations of these energy sources. Right now, our electricity grid is too old and obsolete to be flexible or responsive. It needs modern smarter infrastructure improvements that can accommodate these cleaner options for electricity generation and create a sustainable energy, economic and environmental future for Americans.
3. Improving the electricity infrastructure will reduce the U.S. carbon footprint. Want to stop climate change and cut America’s carbon emissions? Improve the U.S. electricity infrastructure. Our inefficient electricity generation and use is polluting our atmosphere. Nearly 40 percent of U.S. carbon emissions are created by electricity, making it one of the primary contributors to global warming — even more than carbon generated by transportation. Approximately two-thirds of our electricity is lost during generation and delivery over power lines before it even reaches consumers. So, consumers are paying for wasted electricity — electricity that they won’t get a chance to ever use. If the 44th president of the United States wants to reduce the country’s contribution to this growing crisis and address this inconvenient truth, he must fundamentally improve the efficiency of the electricity infrastructure through grid modernization. A smart power system will give households and business the opportunities and incentives they need to be efficient and to save money.
4. Our current electricity grid is vulnerable to terrorists and even furry rodents. Imagine an entire blackout being caused by a mischievous squirrel. Since transmission lines, transformers, substations and other grid infrastructure are exposed to the elements, curious rodents such as squirrels and raccoons wander into unprotected power infrastructure and cause power interruptions and outages that can threaten a neighborhood, city or an entire region. So if the grid could be affected by a squirrel, imagine how insecure and vulnerable the electricity grid is to sinister human elements. Even Congress is concerned about the vulnerability of the power system to attacks. When they passed the Energy Independence and Security Act last year, they funded the Department of Defense to examine the security weaknesses of our power system. Imagine how terrifying America would be if someone intentionally disrupted power to our homes, businesses and lives.
5. Power outages cost the American economy billions. America loses at least $150 billion a year due to power outages. The economy is already struggling without having to absorb the tremendous cost to American businesses when even momentary power outages occur. We have already developed the technology that can make our power system identify faults and correct them automatically, eliminating most power outages and preventing minor local interruptions from cascading and blacking out large portions of the country. Smart grid technology allows the grid to provide homes and businesses with more reliable power. Eliminating power interruptions yields substantial economic benefits for our businesses and our pocketbooks.
6. America is losing its global competitiveness. Europe, Asia and even Third-World countries are adding smart grid technologies to their electricity infrastructure to provide their citizens with more reliable, efficient and cleaner power. As a result, these efforts have opened new business markets and opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship. If we don’t get on board the “smart grid” train, we will be left behind, undermining our credibility as the global technology and business leader.
7. Electricity customers need more control and Perfect Power. Several states assumed that deregulating the electricity industry was the best way to offer electricity customers more choice and control over their energy use and electricity bills. While deregulation offers consumers a competitive retail environment, it does not guarantee that the current grid infrastructure can sustain these advanced options. Today’s electricity grid is not smart enough to integrate demand response technologies, such as smart meters and other tools, which provide consumers with quality power and the opportunity to manage the quantity and pricing of their electricity use. Electricity end-users need Perfect Power — a power system that perfectly meets their needs and never fails. With a smart microgrid distribution system, more consumer control and power perfection is real and attainable, once state policy reforms are undertaken.
8. The time for grid modernization is now. Not in a few years, but yesterday. We stopped upgrading the U.S. electricity system when President Lyndon B. Johnson was in the White House. Since then, the grid has survived on a starvation diet of little innovation or investment. As a result, our grid infrastructure is outdated and antiquated and still manually operated and maintained in an automated age. Today’s power grid is as out of date with the digital 21st century as horse and buggy trails were to automobiles a century ago. Grid modernization must happen now. The next president of the United States must make removing the policy and technical barriers to modernization a priority in order to avoid a perfect storm of rising energy costs, dependence on foreign energy sources and environmental threats, including climate change. If we want to secure this version of America’s energy future and move beyond campaign rhetoric, transforming our weakened power system into a modern, smart grid from power generation to end-user is essential. We’ve waited too long. It’s time to bring the U.S. power system into the 21st century.