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The Nerve Center for CA’s Power Grid Looks Like a Bond Villian’s Lair
My latest story in SFGate
For my latest story in SFGate, I take a deep dive into the stressful, crucial job of keeping California’s power flowing.
The nerve center for California’s power grid looks like a cross between a NASA mission control center and the villain’s lair from the classic Bond film “GoldenEye.”
In the central command center and at hundreds of generation companies, utilities, and partners around the state, grid operators and program operators keep constant tabs on the grid’s performance and make changes up to every 4 seconds to keep the whole thing balanced.
When extreme weather strikes, their job becomes incredibly challenging. They work with power plants, utilities, and consumers, tweaking the grid in real-time to avoid blackouts.
Renewables are making the whole process of managing the grid more challenging in the short term. In the long term, though, renewable power and battery storage will lead to a greener, more stable grid.
California is on the cutting edge in implementing these kinds of technologies. The problems our grid managers are solving today will be the problems many other states and countries face 5–10 years down the road.
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