Power Grid: What Is It and How Does It Work?

Until we’re faced with power outages, we tend to take the electric power that we receive from our power grid for granted.  

We expect on-demand electricity, and many of us are surprised, dismayed, and sometimes at a loss as to how to respond when we don’t have power.  

The power grid delivers electricity from power plants to homes and businesses across the nation. Its vast network of power generation, transmission, and delivery ensures we can function in the modern world. The electrical grid provides us with electrical power on demand. 

While this grid is such an integral part of our daily lives, most folks don’t know much about it or how it functions. We hope to demystify our electricity system, explaining how the power grid works, its vulnerabilities, and how it could be improved.  

What Is a Power Grid and Its Function? 

Whether you call it the power grid, power distribution grid, electrical grid, or national grid, this electrical network generates and distributes electricity across a large area. The network includes energy utility companies and energy suppliers that deliver electricity to your home or business.  

The power grid also consists of the infrastructure to generate and distribute power. 

When people talk about the grid, they generally refer to one of three smaller regional grids, also called interconnections. The Eastern, Western, and Texas Interconnection systems make up the power grid. These three networks are linked in a limited way at grid stations but mostly work independently. The Eastern and Western interconnections also include parts of Canada. 

The power grid does three things: It ensures best practice use of energy resources, provides greater power supply capacity, and makes power system operations more economical and reliable. The generating stations are interconnected to reduce the reserve generation capacity, known as a spinning reserve, in each area. 

Read More: Power Grid: What Is It and How Does It Work? (justenergy.com)

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