I am sad!

At this point the future of the grid in the US is uncertain. I listen to activists who want everyone not to pay for the grid (power should be free) and others that advocate for each person should be able to install whatever they want and connect it to the grid. In a regulatory proceeding the interveners are arguing that the utility should have no ability to study or refuse any interconnection. That upgrades should be free (even though it cross subsidizes the people with interconnections – raising the costs to renters).

At the same time different groups of activists are hammering on every type of generation from hydro-electric to solar to nuclear, nothing is acceptable.
There is no national plan in the US, and the US government is at a stage of pure chaos, with no clear direction presented to the public. The US could easily spend the national debt all over again to transition the grid, and without a plan, end up with winter blackouts. Many state regulators have no background in the physics of the grid, and regulatory staffs have few power engineers.

Distribution has spent the last 40 years getting told “no” on upgrades. Leaving the distribution grid unable to support the transition. Everyone argues that if we just use “flex” load, the distribution grid will be fine, but it won’t if you study the circuits. I can see the outcry in a few years when people are told “no you can’t charge at home” and no we can’t not upgrade your service to support heat pumps.

Far too many people without an understanding of a basic load flow (let alone transient modeling) have decided they know what is best for the grid. Too many regulators and advocates are focused only on cost (and distribution is all some states now regulate).

Most state administrations, and the last two federal administrations are basically ignoring the future of distribution. I worry that if this continues by 2050, only people who make over $500,000 a year and live in a single-family home will have 24/7 power. The rest of us will have part time power, at best. It is sad to see the grid run into the ground. We can do something, but in this fragmented world, likely we will not.

It is no longer about physics but about ideology.

This makes me sad.