Fox Business
Expand
Browse All Video
Watch Live

You're watching...

Time to Upgrade the Grid?

Details

  • Description

    Clearview Energy Partners managing director Christine Tezak on upgrading the U.S. electrical grid.

  • Duration 3:49
  • Date

Clips

Also in this playlist...

Latest Video

Auto-advance: ON

Auto-advance
View All

Transcript

This transcript is automatically generated

-- -- I see you first storms sandy knocked out power to nearly eighty million people totally raise concerns about the vulnerable state of our electrical infrastructure.

But can we afford to upgrade it which is crazy question.

Christine -- that managing director with clear view energy partners Christine I say it's a crazy question because -- as we upgrade it.

Well crazy that's easy to say and -- -- the public utility commissioner that's gonna and you know.

This convey considerable surcharge to your -- to do that.

Is it better to pay now -- deal with what -- I mean the notion that there's still people without power is mind boggling.

Well it's mind boggling but to have to understand that even -- A category one current hurricane this was an incredibly destructive storm because of all the flooding.

And you know we had over eight million people out and they were able to restore service.

Frankly pretty quickly given the amount of devastation that the system with stood but the question is is you know it's easy to say -- we absolutely should pay for this.

But if it's gonna be another forty years -- -- storm this big hits they -- gonna have customers coming back and say wait a minute -- are my rates so high.

Well I an -- say because you're saving your grandchildren.

Looks and we buried our cables underground -- is that the -- -- -- I know my -- group.

The lion in the window is crazy should they be underground.

Well you know the best time to do underground is when your building the neighborhood because that's when you're laying the sewers -- laying -- -- -- the utilities.

And it but the right in -- with a fiber optics makes a great deal of sense but for existing neighborhoods it's much more expensive.

I mean you're talking about the difference between a 150 to 200000 dollars for an overhead line.

To ten times that -- underground and you have to dig up streets you have to have.

All these conduits and stuff and sure -- in some places it may make sense to do that if they're particularly vulnerable.

But even if they're underground that doesn't protect them 100% from a flooding event.

Promise -- -- never anticipated all the pressure it's getting these days right I mean in my house alone we could find enough ballots to charge phones ipads iPods and -- Ever -- -- panic mode we're plugging in anywhere we could because we were without power as well.

There was no anticipation of this so.

I mean it's just gonna get worse were just going to be charging more and more things.

Well -- so.

Many pressures on the electric grid it's not just what we're asking to do -- that distribution and transmission system today you.

But you know with new air control regulations were also asking utilities to rotate into.

Cleaner generating assets in those costs more money than the old one so.

The question is balancing you know how much reliability.

It should we get on the upfront protection inside and then how much should we invest in resiliency in fast recovery -- because maybe its not worth ensuring our -- for everything.

-- -- -- Lesson about regulation of that was your point earlier that these in these utilities are regulated is that our prompt.

Which we -- private industry to come in and let them put the wires underground in charge -- lecture I want.

Well many of them are already publicly traded and they're still regulated.

-- competition can do a lot particularly on the generation side.

But when it comes to a monopoly service like bringing.

You know electricity to the home.

There's been a real reluctance from politicians appointed you to let that be an unregulated business.

And you don't want duplicative -- see there that's not efficient so is trying to find a balance between how fast you can recover and how much you should protect.

And if we did have a change you know in stands then it could be interesting -- we could see more investment and we could see you know a more robust -- be put in place.

If only because we're talking -- electric cars -- we're gonna have blackouts everyday of the week couldn't be seeing that could put them near you energy partners thank you so much I was good stuff.

Thank you -- think.

Load More