Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cybersecurity
    • Cybersecurity

    Girding The Grid

    Written by

    Larry Barrett
    Published September 8, 2003
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

      Innovation may be the life-blood of technology, but once the electrons stop flowing even the best information system goes limp.

      About 50 million electricity customers throughout the Northeast and Canada learned that lesson the hard way—an Aug. 14 blackout exposed how vulnerable the nations electric system is to accidental or intentional interruption.

      Investigators will mine data from Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) software, much like an airplanes black box, to get a real-time picture of what went wrong. In the meantime, here are the numbers behind the grid:

      10

      The number of seconds utility operators have to react to a cascading collapse of the power grid.
      Energy management systems are primarily used to distribute power across the grid. They arent built to do the computations necessary to adjust the flow of electricity after rapid-fire catastrophic events, says Chanan Singh, head of the electrical engineering department at Texas A&M. “There just wasnt enough time,” in August, says Singh. “That has to be done by human beings.

      Because of dense populations in cities, power plants need to balance the distribution of electricity between urban areas. If one generator dips its production, others in the power grid offset the fluctuation. This balancing act takes place in nanoseconds.

      Singh says overlapping power sources are good “99% of the time,” but a sharp drop in power spurs shutdowns.

      $90M

      Cost to install an energy management system for a utility.
      These systems are designed to balance load, the amount of electricity traveling through the grid, when supply and demand are off-kilter. The system tracks the frequency, voltage and sequence of electricity between two points. If the generators are firing “in-step” in a region, the system adjusts the load on its own. When generators are out of synch, the system alerts operators who decide how to balance the system.

      “Its early in the investigation, but its apparent the right information didnt get to grid operators in the time it takes to take corrective action,” says Jill Feblowitz, an AMR Research analyst.

      1

      One system failure. One scapegoat.
      The transmission lines of FirstEnergy Corp. of Akron, Ohio, have been singled out as the choke point that triggered the blackout. Early reports indicated a lightning strike may have damaged a generator and key transmission lines in Ohio. FirstEnergy officials, who wont reveal their suppliers, admit that at least one part of their system failed.

      “We do know that our alarm-screen function failed,” says FirstEnergy spokesman Mark Durbin. “But we cant believe that a problem with our transmission lines could have been the cause of such a widespread problem.”

      Credit Suisse First Boston analyst James Heckler says blaming FirstEnergy for the mass outage is “premature and likely overstated.”

      138+

      The number of U.S. vendors who provide SCADA systems to utilities worldwide.
      “Theres no standardization of I.T. systems for utility providers,” says Scott Castelaz, vice president of corporate development and external affairs at Encorp, a Windsor, Colo., developer of energy management software and hardware. “That becomes a real problem with so many agencies overlapping in densely populated regions.”

      Analysts say a universal reporting and monitoring system helps operators respond to emergencies. Instead of calling each other by phone when something fails, alerts can come automatically.

      “In some ways, its (utility providers) responsibility to connect to each other through their systems,” says Feblowitz.

      1948

      Year that President Truman launched plan to bring transmission lines and generators to rural America.
      Power companies after world war II built transmission lines and generators in places far removed from cities. While rural residents were thrilled, they couldnt consume the energy at their disposal. More capacity was built to shuttle excess power to metropolitan areas. The electric grid has been neglected ever since.

      “Most of the grids infrastructure is more than 50 years old and hasnt been upgraded,” says Castelaz. “The power companies are very proud that despite its age, the system still works pretty well most of the time.”

      Larry Barrett
      Larry Barrett
      Larry was a senior writer and editor at CNet, writing analysis, breaking news and opinion stories. He was technology reporter at the San Jose Business Journal from 1996-1997.

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Artificial Intelligence

      9 Best AI 3D Generators You Need...

      Sam Rinko - June 25, 2024 0
      AI 3D Generators are powerful tools for many different industries. Discover the best AI 3D Generators, and learn which is best for your specific use case.
      Read more
      Cloud

      RingCentral Expands Its Collaboration Platform

      Zeus Kerravala - November 22, 2023 0
      RingCentral adds AI-enabled contact center and hybrid event products to its suite of collaboration services.
      Read more
      Artificial Intelligence

      8 Best AI Data Analytics Software &...

      Aminu Abdullahi - January 18, 2024 0
      Learn the top AI data analytics software to use. Compare AI data analytics solutions & features to make the best choice for your business.
      Read more
      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Video

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2024 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×