Posted on 08/06/2013 7:07:55 AM PDT by AngelesCrestHighway
This is entirely a local situation due to being on an island with "booming" population. All power must traverse Puget Sound, either by cable along a bridge, overhead, or submarine. There is very limited space available on the bridge (two-lane/small), and the existing submarine cable is OLD, and sized for a much smaller rural population (note that this is an REA transmission utility co-op area). I'm not exactly sure why "overhead" was ruled out, but it was.
The local REA has been pushing any and all means to reduce demand (subsidies for any heat-pump installation, any new high efficiencey water heater, "smart" water heaters, and on and on). Last winter we came close to a "rolling blackout" situation.
A new and much larger submarine cable is currently going in (using directional drilling). The new cable will not only be under water, but will be in an actual small drilled tunnel (actually an empty pipeline!) beneath the Puget Sound "floor". But it isn't ready to go just yet. I hope it is done before the next round of cold weather arrives.
It’s a real stretch for me to believe that enough cars powered by juice will be sold to that population to have a significant effect before the upgrade is in place.
I hope you're right. But the utility seems to think otherwise, given the many and varied efforts undertaken to reduce demand.
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