“When we generate electricity from a conventional generator, be it coal, gas, oil, or hydro, the machines are all linked together by the transmission system. This synchronizes all of the generators, which in North America is that a speed of 60HZ or 60 cycles per second. To put it simply and without going into great detail, the magnetic force of all these generators in synchronism gives the system stability, both steady state and transient, which keeps the whole system operating in a stable state and able to withstand line trips, generated trips or lost of load without taking the entire system down by loss of angular stability or a cascading voltage collapse. The more of these independent power producers generate back into the grid, and the more we depend on them for energy to feed load, the less stable our system becomes. With all of these energy sources on during the night that do not offer any spinning mass (inertia) to the system, the less stable the system becomes and therefore the less reliable.” (Peter Gibson, 40-plus years’ experience as the electrical utility sector employee)
I clipped that quote from the book The End of Fossil Fuel Insanity: Clearing the Air Before Cleaning the Air, by Terry Etam, a 25-year veteran of Canada’s energy business. The reason it caught my eye was an interview I did with Ab of Fakeologist with Gaia down in Colombia as well. I commented at one point that ExxonMobil and the Sierra Club had worked hand-in-hand in California to shut down the nuclear power plants that existed there, only one (Diablo Canyon) still functioning.
Piece of Mindful 