The Importance Of The Electrical Power Grid

Imagine a world without electricity, a period of prolonged darkness, not just a brief power outage. Attempt to envision a world where time does not exist. Sounds abnormal, yet for the greater part of human presence, this is the means by which we lived. The sun was the nearest instrument we had to a clock, and it contained all the information we desired. Endeavor to picture a world where there is no such thing as a stove to cook an evening feast for your growing family; no television to watch your most beloved shows; not even a light bulb to light your path in the middle of the night. If you try to image any of the above scenarios, you get a vivid sense of the immense value that electricity provides us with every day and everywhere. You …show more content…
It has made its way across the world, resting in almost every town and city. It is the definition of our modern society. The electrical power grid is its name. The electrical power grid is the largest, most powerful and complex piece of machinery on the planet, but perhaps one of the easiest to use. These simple to use instructions remain as one of the primary reasons for the grids enormous success. The electrical power grid is a single, massive circuit that generates electricity by burning fossil fuels, such as coal, natural gas, uranium, and oil. The transportation of this enormous mass power happens through the arteries of the electrical grid. These arteries are generated at an assortment of different facilities and transported over extremely long separations to users located all around the world. This connectivity takes place every minute of every day, every week of every month and runs year round. When an artery is severed our world stops and we find ourselves completely helpless and frightened. This horrifying change becomes a life altering situation. Similar to the human body, there is a dependence on all parts of the electrical grid to work in harmony. In the United States alone there are “450,000 miles of high-voltage power lines and 160,000 miles of overhead transmission lines connecting electrical power plants to homes and businesses” (Brain and Roos). The electrical power grid was extremely costly to …show more content…
Modern society relies heavily on the convenience and versatility of electricity. We are almost too dependent on electricity such that our lives have become a portable outlet. Electricity is utilized to control the lives of billions around the world. It helps family and companions stay in contact with the touch of a fingertip, and keeps those undesirable individuals away with the touch of another fingertip. It is the pathway for information to be cycled from one city to another, or even one country to another. The fact that the electrical grid provides employees access to stay associated with one another, regardless of their location in the world, is an incredible advancement that has assisted in the expansion of numerous companies. This directly promotes business development and growth globally. The availability of the electric power grid has led to the invention of many extremely successful and useful devices. Television, gaming systems and home computers utilize and require power to work appropriately, and give us a form of desirable entertainment. Dishwashers, microwaves, electric fire places, power washers and numerous other appliances also use electricity to improve household activities. Today’s existence without electricity is verging on