Federal aid will soon be surging to California to help improve the reliability of the state’s electric power grid.
Senator Alex Padilla pushed for the $67 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy. The money will go toward state projects to “minimize the impacts of extreme weather and natural disasters on our electrical grid,” Padilla’s office said in a statement.
Severin Borenstein, energy expert at UC Berkeley, said that protecting our power infrastructure from weather-related outages is a pressing issue.
“It comes with what seems to be a real recognition that this is an issue that’s gonna continue to grow and that we’re gonna continue to need to invest in,” he told KNX News’ Pete Demetriou.
While much of the work will involve research on undergrounding high voltage lines, Borenstein says there are additional strategies the state is considering.
“There are technologies to shut off power to power lines almost instantaneously. There are technologies to clear power lines more aggressively so that you have fewer trees falling on them, and so forth,” he said.
The mix of new technology will not only provide a path for preventing blackouts due to forest fires, but also help establish electrical generation and distribution systems that don’t rely on burning fossil fuels.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok
Related
Related
