Power Outage: Could It Break Something?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the implications of a coordinated power shutdown by consumers and the potential effects on the electrical grid, including whether such an event could cause damage or outages. It explores concepts related to electricity flow, demand response, and grid stability.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions whether a coordinated power shutdown could lead to damage, suggesting that simultaneous power restoration might cause momentary outages due to sudden demand.
  • Another participant asserts that if power is not being used, generators will simply reduce their output, implying no risk of overheating or damage to transformers.
  • A participant compares the electrical system to a water tank, indicating that electricity is not pushed into homes but rather drawn from a supply that must be maintained.
  • One participant notes that a rapid decrease in demand can lead to an increase in grid frequency, as turbines take time to adjust, which may introduce fluctuations in the system.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the potential consequences of a power shutdown and subsequent restoration, with some suggesting risks of outages and others downplaying these concerns. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the implications of these dynamics on the electrical grid.

Contextual Notes

There are assumptions about the behavior of generators and the electrical grid that are not fully explored, such as the specific mechanisms of frequency regulation and the thermal limits of transformers under varying load conditions.

DavidSnider
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Say you had a really successful campaign to get everybody to turn off the power in their house at a certain time without the power company knowing it was going to happen. Would this cause something to break?
 
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No, but if everyone turns their power back on at the same time, that might cause momentary outages as systems switch over to handle the sudden demand.
 
negitron said:
No, but if everyone turns their power back on at the same time, that might cause momentary outages as systems switch over to handle the sudden demand.

So what happens to the power not being used? From what I understand it goes back to the transformer.. Wouldn't it overheat or something?
 
Electricity isn't like a river flowing in and out of transformers. If people stop drawing power, the generators will just pull less torque from their prime movers and their prime movers (turbines usually) will just throttle back.
 
OK I think I get it. So it's not like something is constantly "pushing" electricity into houses, and the houses push back what they don't use, it's more like the entire system is a water tank that people tap into and power company just has to keep the tank filled.
 
Not to complicate things. When there is a quick, large drop in demand, the turbines take a little time to wind down. This can result in the grids frequency to increase. I've seen a couple of hertz variation + and - due to decreases and increases of load.
 

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