VIDEO:NASA视频
Summer has ended without a major electricity failure. But memories of the Aug. 14, 2003, blackout in the northeastern U.S. and Canada are still fresh. Concerns about the deterioration of the U.S. infrastructure were revived by the Aug. 1 collapse of an Interstate bridge in Minnesota with the loss of 13 lives and the earlier explosion of a utility steam line in Midtown Manhattan.
2003年停电不是基础设施失败。
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南希·苏利亚德（Nancy Soulliard）
Advanced sensors, using RFID technology, are in development and soon will be demonstrated in the field. Operating like an E-Z Pass toll booth, they can be read by fast-moving vehicles. |
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Since 2003, regulatory reform and research and the development and deployment of new technologies have focused on keeping the nation's lights on while demand has surged. There has been great progress in addressing the problems of the North American grid. But heading off future reliability problems will require swift adoption of new technologies being developed for system operation and rapid expansion of the transmission grid to meet the challenges of a continent-wide electricity market.
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南希·苏利亚德（Nancy Soulliard）
数据信号的射频识别标签“后向散射”response to excitation signals from helicopters or trucks, greatly simplifying and expediting inspections. |
美国土木工程师学会2005年的成绩单既评判了美国基础设施的整体状况和电力网差状况，使每个人都有一定的D.“美国电力传输系统迫切需要现代化ASCE报告说。“在新的传输设施中的投资尚未使电力需求和投资的增长和投资相匹配。自1992年以来，维护支出每年减少1％。
电力研究所 |
ASCE指出，由于行业重组使恢复不确定，公用事业不愿投资传输。这种情况被加剧了，因为“现有系统是由地理上分离的公用事业来满足当地需求的，并且正在努力满足放松管制带来的全球系统的需求。”
Electric Power Research Inst. |
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| MANSOOR |
Construction expenditures for transmission have trended down for more than two decades, according to Edison Electric Institute, Washington, D.C., the trade group representing investor-owned utilities. From $4.85 billion in 1975, in constant 2004 dollars, expenditures fell to $2.25 billion in 1997, leveled off for a year and then edged upward in 1999. But between 2000 and 2005, investment totaled $26.3 billion, jumping 8.7% in 2003, 15.5% in 2004 and 18% in 2005, say EEI officials. Now, U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts demand growth of 1.4% per year and annual generation capacity growth of 0.8% between 2005 and 2030.
电力研究所
在结构（顶部）上的视频宗派对导体（左）的目标。传感器可以安装在通电线上的拼接上。 |
"Our surveys indicate that the industry has been investing and will continue to invest in the nation's transmission infrastructure at levels not seen in 30 years," said David K. Owens, EEI executive vice president, to the Wall Street financial community at EEI's annual "state of the industry" presentation early this year.
Transmission investment through 2009 will total $31.5 billion, "nearly a 60% increase over the amount invested from 2002 to 2005," Owens said, adding that electric utility spending on distribution systems has followed a generally steady upward trend for the past 20 years and shows no sign of diminishing.
他预计，未来10年的分销支出平均每年为130亿美元至140亿美元。A Jan. 23 report from brokerage house A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc., St. Louis, also foresaw growth in transmission investment.
田纳西河谷管理局
Fiber-optic communications are being built into TVA's Bradley substation now under construction. The system will convey data on the substation's equipment from sensors to the operation and maintenance staff. |
Sources credit the Energy Policy Act of 2005, a vast overhaul of the U.S. energy system, for much of the turnaround. In the bulk-power system alone, the legislation repealed the law that had regulated the electric utility industry since 1935, removed many obstacles to siting of transmission lines, reformed rates and taxes to promote transmission investment, provided for the creation of an Electric Reliability Organization to develop and enforce reliability standards and mandated research and development programs to promote transmission and distribution system communications and energy efficiency. "EPAct 2005 got utilities started thinking about what the utility of the future should be," says Bernard Lecours, strategic marketing manager for GE Energy, Atlanta.
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| LECOURS |
People generally think of wires and towers when discussion turns to transmission investment, and there are some major new construction projects in progress and in the pipeline. Northeast Utilities, Berlin, Conn., is constructing what may be the largest transmission project in the country today, a nearly $2-billion program in southwest Connecticut comprising 155 miles of new and reconstructed 115-kV and 345-kV lines overhead and buried, plus three new solid-core 138-kV cables 11 miles long laid under Long Island Sound from Connecticut to Long Island.Completion of the program is scheduled for 2009.
“更换塔楼的人之所以这样做，是因为他们想在更大的塔楼上放更多的网格，”布莱克和维特奇的丹佛电力交付策略高级副总裁唐·蒙迪说。“他们想在一个篮子里放更多的鸡蛋。我想要更多的篮子。”蒙迪说，美国东部的网格“更强大，更像蜘蛛网”。“西方更加严格。”西方互连中的长距离到负载中心的长距离导致功率的数量有限。
Experts emphasize that the grid actually worked as designed. The system tripped powerplants offline rather than allowing them to be damaged by voltage surging around the transmission network. But what if the operators had been able to observe the conditions that produced the surge before they became critical? What if they had been able to respond in real time to reduce the power flow so the overheated transmission line did not sag into the inadequately trimmed trees and short out? What if the utility responsible for controlling the vegetation had faced serious, mandatory penalties for failing to control the vegetation on the line? Existing transmission facilities were not designed for the current level of demand, resulting in an increased number of 'bottlenecks,' which increase costs to consumers and elevate the risk of blackouts."
