You are about to disrupt the power grid!

Dr. Yilu Liu, a foremost expert in monitoring the power grid

Dr. Yilu Liu, a foremost expert in monitoring the power grid

On Sunday when you are watching the Super Bowl, you will probably contribute to a violent disruption in the nation’s power grid.

Whenever there is a touchdown, a commercial and at halftime, the demand for electricity will surge. Speculation is that folks take those opportunities to open the refrigerator, stick something in the microwave or take a bathroom break. After all those toilets flush, the water pumps kick on. All this takes electricity.

Other times television causes disruptions in the power grid: World Cup soccer tournaments and even the O.J. Simpson trial.

The University of Tennessee is at the forefront in measuring and studying the power grid. Last week, as part of its Dinner and Dialogue program, Dr. Yilu Liu, who holds the Governor’s Chair at the UT College of Engineering, discussed what UT is doing — and what they are learning. Dr. Liu is an expert in technologies used to monitor power grids and an innovator who is helping develop the next generation “smart grid,” which will more effectively move energy from where it is generated to where it is used.

Patricia Jobe, left, and Sue Whittle listen to Dr. Liu.

Patricia Jobe, left, and Sue Whittle listen to Dr. Liu.

The University of Tennessee is measuring electric usage through monitors placed in 80 locations across the country — mostly in the private homes of volunteers. Their goal is eventually to get 2,000 locations for the monitors. Although some of the monitors are owned by electric power producers like TVA and the Southern Company, all of them feed information into UT’s program.

The ultimate goal: observe the power grid and then learn to control it. It’s all about matching energy supply to demand. “To avoid a black-out, power generation and power usage need to be balanced,” Dr. Liu explained. “Our work is to develop sensors that have a much finer resolution than what is standard in the industry. We are working on something that has never been done before.”

And it is crucial. Former U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said the United States is “a superpower living on a third-world electricity grid.” (Click here for a report on a major power outage in 2003.)

Look at the diagram below. The black dots are where UT’s monitors are located. The different colors indicate varying degrees of the power supply being above or below power usage. The map, which Dr. Liu showed in real time was constantly changing colors as producers struggled to keep production in balance with demand. Texas, which has its own system, was red because its power production at the time I took this photo was vastly exceeding demand. Within five minutes, its color changed as the producer made adjustments.power-supply

Liu said that renewable energy such as wind and solar power fluctuate a great deal and cause disruptions to the system. For example, she speculated that Texas was red at the time of the photo because Texas has a lot of wind power and the wind picks up as the sun sets.

Being able to monitor the balance in the system is extremely important — especially as more renewable energy is integrated into the power grid. “Monitoring will allow actions to be taken before it’s to the point of  no return,” she said. “For us to squeeze in renewable power without an up-to-date system is a problem.” As are big sporting events. “The smart grid is mostly about the smart usage of electricity. We want to even out the usage and reduce peaks and valleys,” she said.

Kim Greene of TVA

Kim Greene of TVA

Kim Greene, group president of strategy and external relations for TVA, was one of the folks in attendance at Liu’s presentation. She predicted that in the future, power producers like TVA will begin selling power to distributors like KUB at “time-of-day” rates. “Generally, the electric system has more capacity at night, so we want to encourage people to use electricity at night,” Greene pointed out. She said the concept is much like a restaurant offering “early bird specials” to attract customers at an earlier dinner time. Or movie theaters offering matinees to attract customers at non-peak times. She said the Tennessee cities of Pulaski and Greeneville already are doing this.

These Dinner and Dialogue programs offer insight into the very impressive level of research being conducted at UT. (Click here for a report on what UT is doing with switchgrass research.”

Want to help with the power grid research? Here’s what you can do:

1. Encourage more young people to go into this field;

2. Help find volunteers who would be willing to take one of the monitors into their home. They need to live somewhere other than Knoxville, though. There already are too many of them in the Knoxville area.

Mary Rose and Daryl Armentrout attended the meeting at The Orangery.

Mary Rose and Daryl Armentrout attended the meeting at The Orangery.

Fran and Bill Potter were there.

Fran and Bill Potter were there.

Patrick Wade of UT is in charge of the Dinner and Dialogue series.

Patrick Wade of UT is in charge of the Dinner and Dialogue series.

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5 Responses to You are about to disrupt the power grid!

  1. Glo Marquis, on February 1st, 2011 at 1:23 pm said:

    Cynthia, this is so interesting! Recently, we asked TVA to do a energy evaluation of our 1930’s home. They gave us their list of suggested companies who could make our house more energy efficient. We did that, and now are lookiing for other ways to participate! One home is a small part, but maybe others will do this as well! Tooi bad we can’t have a monitor, since we live in K’ville.

  2. Cynthia Moxley, on February 1st, 2011 at 1:31 pm said:

    Glo: That is so great that you did that! I’m a firm believer in the theory that every little bit counts. Maybe I’ll contribute by not watching the Super Bowl! Ha. Kidding. You know Alan will be watching.

  3. Gay Lyons, on February 1st, 2011 at 10:13 pm said:

    One house at a time, one light bulb at a time. That’s how this will happen.

  4. Debra Williams, on February 2nd, 2011 at 6:17 pm said:

    I agree with Gay…one house at a time. As far as encouraging young folks, Walters State Community College now offers technical certificates and an associate degree in clean energy technology. And in the interest of full disclosure, I work at Walters State.

  5. Cynthia Moxley, on February 7th, 2011 at 11:50 pm said:

    I agree, Gay. Debra: Thanks for the info.

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