The Northwest grid isn’t this smart yet, but it’s getting smarter…
The Northwest has set goals to use more renewable energy over the next 15 years, but the existing power delivery system wasn’t set up for getting variable wind and solar power to your house efficiently.
Power grid managers have to keep a steady flow of juice in the power lines at all times to avoid blackouts and grid damage, so they need a back-up plan for when the wind changes. Maybe even five back-up plans… These aren’t all be “smart grid” per se, but they are smarter ways of running the grid to accommodate new forms of renewable energy (wind, solar, geothermal) as well as the old reliables (hydro, coal and natural gas):
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