{"id":1493478,"date":"2024-10-02T15:05:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-02T19:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1493478"},"modified":"2024-10-02T15:05:00","modified_gmt":"2024-10-02T19:05:00","slug":"grid-apocalypse-hits-carolinas-360-substations-down-power-restoration-could-take-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/grid-apocalypse-hits-carolinas-360-substations-down-power-restoration-could-take-months\/1493478\/","title":{"rendered":"Grid Apocalypse Hits Carolinas:\u00a0360 Substations Down, Power Restoration Could Take “Months”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Grid Apocalypse Hits Carolinas:\u00a0360 Substations Down, Power Restoration Could Take “Months”<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC), representing a district in the western portion of the state battered by Hurricane Helene, released a press release<\/a> Sunday detailing the infrastructure devastation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The destructive path of #Helene<\/a> has left extensive damage to @DukeEnergy<\/a> infrastructure in the #NC<\/a> mountains and Upstate #SC<\/a> . We believe around 50% of remaining outages in these areas will require significant replacement and rebuilding of poles, lines and substation equipment. pic.twitter.com\/b7eANjX0ta<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jeff Brooks (@DE_JeffB) September 30, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

Edwards said power outages remain\u00a0widespread in Western North Carolina as of Sunday. Fast-forward to Wednesday morning, Poweroutage.US data shows more than 400,000 residents are without power\u00a0in the region.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

He explained that 360 power substations “are out,” indicating that “many of these substations were completely flooded, and Duke Energy is unable to assess the damage until the flooding has lowered, the water has been pumped out, and the equipment is thoroughly dried.”<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

What’s piqued our interest is that the powering up America<\/em> theme to power AI data centers and other electrification trends, such as EVs and onshoring manufacturing (as outlined in “The Next AI Trade”<\/a>), has led to\u00a0shortages and price increases in the transformer market.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Distribution transformers are a bedrock component of our energy infrastructure,”\u00a0National Renewable Energy Laboratory researcher Killian McKenna said, who was recently quoted by PV Magazine<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

McKenna pointed out, “But utilities needing to add or replace them are currently facing high prices and long wait times due to supply chain shortages. This has the potential to affect energy accessibility, reliability, affordability\u2014everything.”<\/p>\n

Other reasons for the transformer shortages besides power grid upgrades include\u00a0raw material sourcing problems,\u00a0pandemic-related supply chain woes and backlogs,\u00a0labor constraints, shipping issues, and geopolitical tensions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Given all of this,\u00a0Jesse D. Jenkins, an\u00a0assistant professor and macro-energy systems engineering and policy expert at Princeton University, responded to the dire situation of a grid apocalypse playing out in the Southeast US:<\/p>\n

“This is devastating. We do NOT have 360 substations worth of transformers and other electrical equipment sitting in stockpiles<\/em><\/strong> waiting to be deployed. It <\/em>could take a very long time to restore power to everyone<\/em><\/strong>. Are we facing a Hurricane Maria-type impact on grid infrastructure?”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

This is devastating. We do NOT have 360 substations worth of transformers and other electrical equipment sitting in stockpiles waiting to be deployed. It could take a very long time to restore power to everyone. Are we facing a Hurricane Maria-type impact on grid infrastructure? https:\/\/t.co\/k0Wli7XlEf<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jesse D. Jenkins (@JesseJenkins) September 30, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

Making matters worse for residents of North Carolina, some X users are pointing out the Biden-Harris administration supplied transformers to Ukraine. It’s unclear if these transformers were drained for US stockpiles. Meanwhile, others note\u00a0that Ukraine uses a different electrical system than the US.<\/p>\n

We do not have this equipment readily available because we have shipped large quantities of transformers and other electrical equipment to Ukraine. Both our military and non-military support for Ukraine has left us less prepared for domestic disasters like Hurricane Helenehttps:\/\/t.co\/cOct3JkcVU<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/laVtNIuCoa<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Dan Caldwell \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@dandcaldwell) October 1, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

What’s not questionable is this:\u00a0Earlier this year,\u00a0US ambassador to Kyiv Bridget Brink jumped for joy on X, indicating\u00a0United States Agency for International Development delivered “50 voltage transformers, 9 current transformers, & 80 isolators.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

You know, just Washington elites have been prioritizing Ukraine’s power grid over the US’ fragile grid.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last week we provided through @USAID<\/a> 50 voltage transformers, 9 current transformers, & 80 isolators to Kharkiv\u2019s energy distribution system operator to help energy workers undertake urgent repairs to Kharkiv\u2019s electrical grid damaged by Russia\u2019s missile and drone attacks. pic.twitter.com\/C8VmGLuliD<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ambassador Bridget A. Brink (@USAmbKyiv) May 21, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

Nathaniel Horadam, a managing consultant and automated vehicle specialist with the Atlanta-based nonprofit Center for Transportation and the Environment, wrote on X, “ It’s Hard to express how insane this is. With ongoing supply chain challenges facing switchgear and transformers, this could take many months to resolv<\/strong>e.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

“There’s no excess capacity to quickly replace substation infrastructure. Lower priority sites could literally take years<\/strong>,”\u00a0Horadam warned.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Possibly summed up here…<\/p>\n

They tax us to death, still manage to run up over $38 trillion in debt, and apparently we are financing the infrastructure for other nations and neglecting our own.<\/p>\n

This is actually dangerous.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Anna K. Gorisch (@AnnaGorisch) October 1, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

Really big ‘sigh’…<\/p>\n

Biden-Harris’ FCC Nuked 20,000 Starlink Terminals For North Carolina That Could’ve Saved Lives https:\/\/t.co\/QqDvBPyOB3<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 zerohedge (@zerohedge) October 1, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

America needs new leadership. Leftist elites prioritize other countries and illegal aliens over American citizens. This is happening against the will of the American people. The\u00a0Biden-Harris admin has been sailing a\u00a0rudderless ship in a worsening shitstorm as the world is on fire.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nWed, 10\/02\/2024 – 11:05<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/commodities\/grid-apocalypse-hits-carolinas-360-substations-down-power-restoration-could-take-months<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Grid Apocalypse Hits Carolinas:\u00a0360 Substations Down, Power Restoration Could Take “Months” Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC), representing a district in the western portion of the state…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1493479,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1493478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1493478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1493478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1493478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1493479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1493478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1493478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1493478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}