# Neat Maps of US Power Grid **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 14, 2010, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-maps-of-us-power-grid/557108 "2010-10-14T09:22:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-maps-of-us-power-grid/557108/1 "2010-10-14T09:22:07Z")
[Over here](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=110997398) are some neat maps (from NPR) showing the US electrical grids. [This one shows](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=110997398) how much of each type of power each state uses. (Vermont is 71 nuclear.) (Tennessee is only 9% hydro.) [Power plants](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=110997398) are shown here, by type. ([Nukes, for example.](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=110997398)) [Wind power potential](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=110997398) has it all over [solar power potential.](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=110997398) Wind power is greatest offshore, and most population centers are on the coasts. Read into them what you will, but a neat set of maps. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-maps-of-us-power-grid/557108/2 "2010-10-14T11:57:01Z")
Wow I had no idea the Hoover dam was such a puny output. For some reason I had imagined it was still a serious source of the juice. ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-maps-of-us-power-grid/557108/3 "2010-10-14T12:15:53Z")
Not so much noteworthy for the quality of map but I read [this](http://io9.com/5662593/the-us-electrical-grid-is-too-crappy-to-be-vulnerable-to-terrorist-attack-say-physicists) article today stating that the US power grid is too unreliable to be easily brought down by terrorists. ---
**Author:** ![ramel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb8c5e/32.png) [@ramel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ramel)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-maps-of-us-power-grid/557108/4 "2010-10-14T12:22:26Z")
Really great link, thanks for posting! I don’t know much about the US, but why do Idaho, Oregon and Washington get so much power from Hydro? Very wet region? ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-maps-of-us-power-grid/557108/5 "2010-10-14T12:37:08Z")
> [@mittu](#): > > Not so much noteworthy for the quality of map but I read [this](http://io9.com/5662593/the-us-electrical-grid-is-too-crappy-to-be-vulnerable-to-terrorist-attack-say-physicists) article today stating that the US power grid is too unreliable to be easily brought down by terrorists. Along those lines, here’s an interesting report from the DOE regarding considerations for a smart-grid. [DOE Smart-Grid (pdf)](http://cryptome.org/0002/doe100510.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-maps-of-us-power-grid/557108/6 "2010-10-14T13:35:41Z")
> [@ramel](#): > > Really great link, thanks for posting! > > I don’t know much about the US, but why do Idaho, Oregon and Washington get so much power from Hydro? Very wet region? No, some of the driest deserts in America are in Idaho. But the mountains make for some excellent hydro sites which serve an area with a small population. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-maps-of-us-power-grid/557108/7 "2010-10-14T13:55:15Z")
I question the accuracy. There is a Nuclear plant not too far from my home town that isn’t even listed on there. ---
**Author:** ![Ninja\_Lauren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/46a35a/32.png) [@Ninja\_Lauren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ninja_Lauren)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-maps-of-us-power-grid/557108/8 "2010-10-14T16:31:00Z")
Very cool! It must be pretty accurate, because the Sanford & Edenville hydroelectric dams on the Michigan map are both in tiny towns, but are there. (I’ve lived in both Sanford & Gladwin and trust me, they are usually not represented on anything!) I just wish more effort would be put into cleaner sources of energy. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-maps-of-us-power-grid/557108/9 "2010-10-14T16:38:01Z")
What impressed me was how far we (seem to) move the juice. The total effect on me was to think about conservation. Live the same life you live now, but use less power. ---
**Author:** ![Ninja\_Lauren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/46a35a/32.png) [@Ninja\_Lauren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ninja_Lauren)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-maps-of-us-power-grid/557108/10 "2010-10-14T17:05:18Z")
Conserving power is a hard point to get across to some people though. It’s like they think,“Well, as long as I pay my bill, I can use as much juice as I want!” But they never really think about where the power comes from, or what goes into making it or what kind of by-products it creates. We are creatures of habit, and since we’ve always used coal/oil/gasoline, we’ll keep using them until we run out. I think that’s why we haven’t really put a large effort into alternative energy. We don’t have to worry about it yet. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-maps-of-us-power-grid/557108/11 "2010-10-14T18:28:29Z")
The Nuke power plant in Arkansas has served us well. We supply power to several other states. > **[Arkansas Nuclear One](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkansas_Nuclear_One)** > > Arkansas Nuclear One (ANO) is a two-unit pressurized water nuclear power plant located on Lake Dardanelle outside Russellville, Arkansas. Owned by Entergy Arkansas and operated by Entergy Nuclear, it is the only nuclear power facility in Arkansas. > Unit One has a generating capacity of 846 megawatts and came online on May 21, 1974. It is licensed to operate through May 20, 2034. Its nuclear reactor was supplied by Babcock & Wilcox. > Unit Two has a generating capacity of 930 megawatts and came onl... It’s getting old. I think it was scheduled to go off line a decade ago. They can’t take it down because its so vital to the grid. ---
**Author:** ![CapnPitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-maps-of-us-power-grid/557108/12 "2010-10-14T19:41:55Z")
> [@ramel](#): > > Really great link, thanks for posting! > > I don’t know much about the US, but why do Idaho, Oregon and Washington get so much power from Hydro? Very wet region? Pretty sure it’s mostly from the Grand Coulee Dam. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-maps-of-us-power-grid/557108/13 "2010-10-14T20:46:00Z")
> [@ramel](#): > > Really great link, thanks for posting! > > I don’t know much about the US, but why do Idaho, Oregon and Washington get so much power from Hydro? [Bonneville Power Administration](http://www.bpa.gov/corporate/). > [@](#): > > Very wet region? Where? 😃 A considerable part of Washington, Oregon and Idaho is high mountain desert. And the entire area has been in drought for almost a decade, including those “wet areas.” The last comment I heard about ending the Pacific Northwest drought would be a light drizzle over the entire region 24/7 for about a year straight. ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-maps-of-us-power-grid/557108/14 "2010-10-14T21:50:01Z")
Nearby mountains is the primary reason for so much hydroelectric power- combined with that constant drizzle **Duckster** references. [Seattle’s power supply](http://www.seattle.gov/light/FuelMix/) is nearly entirely hydro and consequently we have some of the cheapest electricity in the nation. I spent only $124 heating my house all through last winter- it was awesome. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-maps-of-us-power-grid/557108/15 "2010-10-15T04:02:24Z")
Yes, elevation change is a key ingredient in hydro power. Lots of Fixed costs, minimal variable costs. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-maps-of-us-power-grid/557108/16 "2010-10-15T12:11:03Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > [This one shows](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=110997398) how much of each type of power each state uses. (Vermont is 71 nuclear.) (Tennessee is only 9% hydro.) > . Wow, it’s that much? I thought more of our power came from hydro…I can’t view the map at work, so what is the hydro percent? I guess 71% makes sense, what with the nuclear plant down in southern Vermont and all, but I thought most of it’s power was used only in southern VT and parts of NH, MA, and NY. Guess I was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![longPath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@longPath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/longPath)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2010, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-maps-of-us-power-grid/557108/17 "2010-10-16T11:47:11Z")
Having played around with some pretty high voltages (20-30KV), I am totally amazed that 1 million volt DC powerlines exist!