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Show The Salt Lake Tribune BUSINESS Y2K Threat Hangs Over Grid System @ From previcus page conveyor belts haul 20,000 tons of coal a day into a blast furnace. Other plants run onoil or natural gas. ‘They fire boilers-that produce high-pressure steam superheated to $30 degrees Fahrenheit. The a spins windmill-like ya toa shaft at 3, bem nThe shaft extends into a ee erator,rotating a set of large electromagnets that induce an alterarmature ofthick copper rods. The new electricity reaches its cnnon transmission lines ina stream of electrons that jump tom atom to atom along copper more than 400,000 volts. This super-currentraces for hundreds of miles along a maze of wires strung between 150-foot metal towers connecting cities and vulnerable to attacks or accidents. states. ites. _ Nationwide, the grid’s web of interstate high-voltage transmis- components. Sudden spikes or dips in demand can trigger sion lines travels 201,243 miles. That's enough to encircle the planet eight times. As theelectricity approaches a come other transformers process and lower the voltage fevelsthat can light buildings of melt them or burn them do: It's elicnted because different customers require different voltages. Railroads might run commuter trains on 33,000 ves But households only require 111 Ta. for small appliances ‘ea Thetransmission anddistribution system doesn’t rely much on computers. It can be operated manually by technicians who read dials andflip switches, encounters resistance in wire, heating the copper and surround- a180te New England; a regio! employ transformers to increase to the doorstep of New YorkCity. “Not much there that can go Transformers use magnetic But the network is far-flung, and isolated equipment is the current’s voltage, or the force at which the currentflows. fields to step up the current to whouts. That's ee flexible — and neighbo: By midmorning onSate 6, operators at the Mid-Atlantic grid in Norristown, Pa. saw power demand exceeding their plants’ capacity. To keep this corner of grid operator that hurls electricity from hydro stations in Quebec awry,”Sinclair said. 26, 1999 E5 How the Power Grid Works The national national grid is divided into three independently operating regions — east, west and Texas. There's no way to store such vast amounts of energy, ‘$0 each region is split into sub-units that can trade poweras needed. This interdependence is i atthe root of many year 2000 fears, butthe federal governmenthas endorsed the industry's readiness. Generator Transformer Transmission Any type of Booets votage system ‘energy source. fortransmi Substation Reduces vokagefor pube ion. Distribution lines ‘Above ground or below ground Outlets Underground feeder lines tun to the customer through concrete conduits. the grid from collapsing — - serves Washington, DC., more and Philadelphia — ni operators as far away as Oklahoma forced extra power to the Eastern cities. Too much power can met jines, and too litle can cause brownouts, An outage in one part of the grid can cascade, causing ripple effects in other parts of the grid. Y2K preparedness But it’s not too neighborly. Mid-Atlantic had to buy the extra power at prices 30 times higher than the rate, When it works, this interconnectedness can prevent power outages, but it can also backfire and cause outages to ripple across large territories. wiplectricity dissipates as it ing air. To compensate, utilities Power surges can melt trans- mission lines. Electrical arcs between terminals can iron Sunday, D In 1996, hot weather andrising demand caused 345,000-volt power lines to sag against tree limbs in Idaho and Oregon. A pair of blackouts affected millions in 14 Western states. Cowies hopes thatall facilities, including rural and older ones, will prove to be Y2K compliant. Regionalgrids will double their reserve generatting power to 20 percent that night in case large powerstations trip off-line. “If one utility hasn’t done their Y2K homework, then everyone is going to have problems,” he predicts. On New Year's Eve,grid operators nationwide are taking several precautions: They will double reserve generating power to 20 percent in case powerstationstrip off-line. They are urging industrial Regional grids also have purchased Extra repair personnel will be posted at satellite phones and two-way radios choke on the grid — transformers, for useif regular telephone service circuit breakers and transmission lines. is lost. AP. energy use. Too little demand can upsetthe grid,too. They're reducing open lines betweenregionsandstates to prevent outages from spreading like wildfire. They’ve purchased satellite phones and two-way radios in case telephoneservice is lost. customers not to curtail their Extra repair personnelwill be posted at vulnerable choke-points — transformers, circuit breakers and transmissionlines. All of this gives Riley onefinal worry: “I expect that we'll be criticized for spending moneyif nothing happens.” The Ultimate Tax Write-Off. How SweetAs. 60 ey The 2000 Range Rover has been christened by many as the ultimate SUV. Now there is another reason to consider a Range Rover...fax deductibility. Mountain America Credit Union introduces the ‘Sweef Sixteen i Term Deposit account. 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