1 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:06,920 Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. 2 00:00:08,440 --> 00:00:11,559 Speaker 2: One morning last June in Waltham, Massachusetts, a town just 3 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 2: outside Boston, a bunch of fire alarms started going off. 4 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 1: So all these neighbors and their pajamas got out and 5 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:22,639 Speaker 1: were like, what's happening, And then they also noticed that 6 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:26,200 Speaker 1: there was a fire and they were losing electricity too. 7 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 2: This is Neurine Malik, a Bloomberg Power and Energy reporter. 8 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 2: A house had caught fire and local firefighters responded to 9 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:36,160 Speaker 2: the scene. The neighbors would later learn that this fire 10 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 2: and the loss of electricity started because of a problem 11 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 2: with the power grid. There was a power surge. 12 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:47,880 Speaker 1: Higher voltage like rippled through neighborhoods and some houses. Every 13 00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:51,520 Speaker 1: house experienced it differently. Some had flickering lights, some had 14 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:55,440 Speaker 1: actual like their own power surges within their homes and 15 00:00:55,480 --> 00:01:01,200 Speaker 1: their own electrical appliances got fried. People had refrigerators, air conditioners, 16 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: and of course, unfortunately for this one family, they're home 17 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:07,040 Speaker 1: caught fire and it was devastating. 18 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:10,200 Speaker 2: And Noreene says Waltham is not the only neighborhood at risk. 19 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:15,000 Speaker 2: She says these kinds of dangerous surges can happen in 20 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:19,399 Speaker 2: lots of places and the problem is growing. Today. On 21 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:22,119 Speaker 2: the show, what caused the fire in Waltham and how 22 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:25,520 Speaker 2: many homes are at risk? This is big tape from 23 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:35,399 Speaker 2: Bloomberg News. I'm your host, Sarah Holder. Dangerous power surges 24 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:37,560 Speaker 2: like the one in Waltham are not supposed to be 25 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:41,120 Speaker 2: able to make their way to people's homes. So what happened? 26 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:44,560 Speaker 2: To explain, Noreene started by walking us through the tightly 27 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 2: controlled systems that are in place to prevent this from happening. 28 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:53,200 Speaker 1: So the grid is generally divided into two domains. Think 29 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 1: of it like the highway and the road system of America. 30 00:01:56,560 --> 00:02:00,680 Speaker 1: You have the bigger high voltage transmission system, which takes 31 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 1: power produced from nuclear plants, coal plants, natural gas plants. 32 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 1: So it's high voltage power that's too powerful to be 33 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:11,000 Speaker 1: used in homes, but you need it to stay at 34 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:13,640 Speaker 1: these high levels so that it can be transported across 35 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 1: basically the interstate highways of power. 36 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:19,799 Speaker 2: To get off these interstates, power has to exit through 37 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:21,400 Speaker 2: these places called substations. 38 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:25,960 Speaker 1: The substations act as sort of like the exit ramp 39 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:30,240 Speaker 1: where the high voltage power can be downgraded to lower voltages. 40 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: If you're going through a town and you see like 41 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 1: a tangle of wires and boxes that are fenced off. 42 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 1: That's a substation. 43 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 2: These substations then convert the voltage so it can flow 44 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:45,160 Speaker 2: into smaller systems like the electricity poles that we see 45 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:45,639 Speaker 2: on the street. 46 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 1: And then all those poles that are dotting the neighborhoods 47 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 1: and towns, those have little boxes on them or buckets 48 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 1: on them, and those are transformers. They're like the mini 49 00:02:56,639 --> 00:02:57,960 Speaker 1: version of the substation. 50 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 2: These transformers convert the power even lower to about one 51 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:05,639 Speaker 2: hundred and twenty volts. This is the power that reaches 52 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 2: our apartments and houses. 53 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: That's what our cell phones, TVs and you know, appliances 54 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: run on. 55 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:16,280 Speaker 2: Okay, so it starts at a really high voltage, it 56 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 2: gets faried and distributed through these power lines and then 57 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 2: downgraded once again so it can be gentle enough but 58 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:26,840 Speaker 2: still powerful enough to power the stuff that. 59 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: We use for our lives exactly. 60 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 2: And when this system is working properly, electricity flows to 61 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:34,800 Speaker 2: all the places it is needed at an even rate. 62 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:36,840 Speaker 2: This is called power quality. 63 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: It's basically, can you get uninterrupted flow of powerty a home? 64 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:44,280 Speaker 1: You flip on your light? Is the power there, and 65 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: is it a steady flow of power? Because if you 66 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: have like power that just kind of like maybe like 67 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 1: SAgs a little or surges, it decrades the equipment. 68 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 2: That's how the system is supposed to work. So what 69 00:03:57,320 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 2: went wrong in Waltham on that day back in June 70 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:00,480 Speaker 2: of life last year. 71 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:04,880 Speaker 1: So the substation is supposed to protect a stop power 72 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: surges from being passed on that process malfunctioned. There was 73 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:13,040 Speaker 1: a breaker issue, That's what the utility said. And rodent 74 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:16,640 Speaker 1: infestation is the reason that the Utility Commission and the 75 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 1: utility itself told us was a cause for the equipment malfunctioning. 76 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:24,599 Speaker 2: In a statement, the utility said that Waltham's quote unquote 77 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:28,960 Speaker 2: temporary over voltage was an isolated instance caused by rodents, 78 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:32,320 Speaker 2: and that it's not indicative of broader power quality issues 79 00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:35,880 Speaker 2: in their system. They added, quote well, issues do occur 80 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:39,360 Speaker 2: from time to time, the electric system overall operates as 81 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:42,640 Speaker 2: designed every day, and there's no indication of widespread power 82 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:47,640 Speaker 2: quality issues within our service territory. That said, broader power 83 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:50,200 Speaker 2: quality issues do appear to be becoming more of a 84 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:53,240 Speaker 2: problem across America, and there are many strains on the 85 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 2: US power grid that can cause similarly dangerous swings that 86 00:04:57,200 --> 00:04:58,240 Speaker 2: can be caused. 87 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:02,320 Speaker 1: By winter storms, trees falling on power lines. It's high 88 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: winds and lines hit each other. They're not supposed to touch 89 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:06,719 Speaker 1: its lines falling. 90 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:09,080 Speaker 2: And while these types of stresses on the system have 91 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:11,839 Speaker 2: been around for decades, Marine says, one of the main 92 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:14,400 Speaker 2: factors contributing to a higher risk of these types of 93 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:19,479 Speaker 2: incidents happening now is our aging infrastructure. Infrastructure that's now 94 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:23,160 Speaker 2: facing the pressure of more extreme weather, more electricity usage, 95 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 2: and more renewable energy coming online. 96 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:29,560 Speaker 1: We're in this critical moment of we've got a growing economy. 97 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: We're seeing more stress being placed by the push towards 98 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:38,200 Speaker 1: electrification as we increasingly have more gadgets and electrify everything 99 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:43,400 Speaker 1: like our cars. I'm thinking about someone in the energy 100 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:46,920 Speaker 1: industry that lives in affluent neighborhood in Houston told me how, 101 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:49,680 Speaker 1: like a couple of years ago now where on his 102 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:52,840 Speaker 1: street there used to be maybe like a few evs, 103 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:55,320 Speaker 1: and there was no problem. Everyone was able to hook 104 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:59,160 Speaker 1: up and they had no issues charging. But as more 105 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:01,720 Speaker 1: of the block and more of the neighborhood got evs, 106 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 1: he started to get power quality notices on his EV charger. 107 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:10,560 Speaker 2: When we're back, we look at how widespread this problem 108 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:20,760 Speaker 2: actually is and what solutions are on the table. We're back. 109 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:24,040 Speaker 2: Before the break, we were speaking with my colleague Nourine Malik, 110 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 2: who's been digging into why we appear to be seeing 111 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:30,240 Speaker 2: more power quality issues across the country. When we ask 112 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:33,480 Speaker 2: Mareene how frequently these voltage swings and power surges are 113 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:37,280 Speaker 2: happening exactly, she said, that's a difficult question to answer 114 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 2: because while some parts of the system are federally regulated, these. 115 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:45,799 Speaker 1: Big utility sites nuclear plants, coal plants, natural gas plants 116 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:49,880 Speaker 1: like on that transmission super highway system, it has federal 117 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:54,960 Speaker 1: oversight and there's regulatory agencies that develop standards of reliability. 118 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:58,760 Speaker 2: Others are regulated locally, so local energy sites like the 119 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 2: substation where the walth And fire started don't necessarily have 120 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:06,119 Speaker 2: federal oversight. And it's important to note in the Waltham case, 121 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 2: the local regulator did not pursue a formal investigation, citing 122 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:13,160 Speaker 2: a satisfactory response by ever source, which is committed to 123 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:17,040 Speaker 2: installing new breakers and also redesigning aspects of the substation. 124 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:20,160 Speaker 2: In any case, the data gathered is sparse. 125 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:24,239 Speaker 1: You know, we've been looking at outages and just trying 126 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:28,440 Speaker 1: to better understand risk to consumers and the cost to consumers, 127 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:31,800 Speaker 1: and it seems like these events are more frequent, But 128 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:35,680 Speaker 1: no one I couldn't find a body like a federal 129 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:39,080 Speaker 1: or a repository anywhere of people that actually looked at 130 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:40,080 Speaker 1: this level of risk. 131 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 2: Nourene says. One bit of data she was able to 132 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:45,320 Speaker 2: get on the potential size of the problem was from 133 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 2: a company called Whisker Labs, which sells sensors to monitor 134 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:51,120 Speaker 2: surges and power quality, so. 135 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: You can see if a home has a lot of 136 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 1: power swings up and down within an hour, within a day, 137 00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:58,760 Speaker 1: or within a few days. They consider that to be 138 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:02,640 Speaker 1: a high fire risk because you suddenly have dangerous flows 139 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 1: of power consistently coming into your home. 140 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:09,239 Speaker 2: Whisker Labs estimates one point two million homes are exposed 141 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:10,160 Speaker 2: to dangerous power. 142 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:13,960 Speaker 1: So the type of power surges and SAgs that happened 143 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:16,520 Speaker 1: frequently in a year, and in that case, that does 144 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:20,680 Speaker 1: represent fire risk. Now, not every flicker is like a 145 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 1: fire risk, but I think these are important issues to 146 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:28,000 Speaker 1: understand so that if there are hot spots across the 147 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:30,480 Speaker 1: country or in parts of the country, that they are 148 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:33,160 Speaker 1: looked at so that you can prevent damage that can 149 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:34,480 Speaker 1: be avoided otherwise. 150 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:38,199 Speaker 2: So, given the increased strain on the US power grid, 151 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:41,080 Speaker 2: we wanted to know what steps utilities are looking at 152 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 2: to prevent these types of dangerous wings from happening in 153 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:44,280 Speaker 2: the future. 154 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:48,800 Speaker 1: A utility in northern California is working on undergrounding more 155 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:51,720 Speaker 1: lines because the risk now there is too great. In 156 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:54,960 Speaker 1: Florida and the Southeast, they do try to underground lines 157 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:58,280 Speaker 1: there because of hurricane risks. But like in places like 158 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:02,319 Speaker 1: Texas or the Midwest, and even in New York, it's 159 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:04,760 Speaker 1: hard to underground lines because you have to then tear 160 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:09,600 Speaker 1: up everything and rebuild everything. And in Texas, Austin Energy 161 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:12,439 Speaker 1: told me that they are really worried about these climate 162 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:16,000 Speaker 1: risks and power quality issues and they're going through a 163 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:18,840 Speaker 1: study to figure out where it does make sense to 164 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:19,920 Speaker 1: underground lines. 165 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:24,320 Speaker 2: But Noreene says a major factor holding back utilities from 166 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:27,600 Speaker 2: just putting all their power lines underground right now is cost. 167 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:30,600 Speaker 1: You know, you can never fool proof the system on 168 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:34,520 Speaker 1: one hundred percent because it's too costly, say that you're 169 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:37,559 Speaker 1: going to basically do the gold plated standard. In some cases, 170 00:09:37,559 --> 00:09:40,480 Speaker 1: that might be undergrounding all the lines that cost one 171 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:43,480 Speaker 1: million to three million dollars a mile to underground them. 172 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:46,319 Speaker 2: Figuring out how to pay for changes like moving power 173 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:50,840 Speaker 2: lines underground can be complicated because ultimately the costs of 174 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:53,760 Speaker 2: any changes will be passed on to the customer's bills. 175 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:57,520 Speaker 1: They're already facing higher costs because the grid is aging, 176 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 1: and then the extra growth is adding two people's transmission 177 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:05,679 Speaker 1: bills and distribution bills. They pay for that directly, So 178 00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:08,320 Speaker 1: there is this conscious effort of trying to figure out 179 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:11,199 Speaker 1: how to make the most prudent investments. 180 00:10:13,559 --> 00:10:15,400 Speaker 2: As for the house where the fire broke out in 181 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 2: Wealth in last June, Nourene says, the surge caused fire 182 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:21,760 Speaker 2: damage so bad that the home was completely ravaged. 183 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:25,400 Speaker 1: The family has been displaced, and it's been like six 184 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:27,760 Speaker 1: plus months. And then on top of that, all these 185 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:30,840 Speaker 1: other people are facing extra costs, some of them thousands 186 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:34,200 Speaker 1: or tens of thousands of dollars several blocks away, even 187 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:37,720 Speaker 1: like a mile away or within the mile. People were 188 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:40,960 Speaker 1: also experiencing issues the utility. 189 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:44,080 Speaker 2: Ever Source has told the local regulator will redesign parts 190 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 2: of the substation and install new breakers. 191 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:50,520 Speaker 1: Eversource has said that they are continuing to make investments 192 00:10:50,559 --> 00:10:54,680 Speaker 1: to maintain, strengthen, upgrade, and modernize both its transmission and 193 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:57,680 Speaker 1: distribution systems, so make sure that all pieces of the 194 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:01,280 Speaker 1: grid can better weather these But when. 195 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:03,760 Speaker 2: It comes to making the US power grid more resilient, 196 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:07,000 Speaker 2: the task ahead is bigger than Waltham. You know. 197 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:09,319 Speaker 1: The electric industry has been called one of the most 198 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:13,240 Speaker 1: complicated machine ever made by humankind because it has to 199 00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:17,800 Speaker 1: flow in real time and perfectly balance everything, and there's 200 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:21,520 Speaker 1: so many things that can go wrong. But on a 201 00:11:21,559 --> 00:11:24,920 Speaker 1: consumer level, it's rare to get that level of insight. 202 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:28,480 Speaker 1: You only see it manifesting in the form of like 203 00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:32,200 Speaker 1: flickering lights or if your appliances get fried. But for 204 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:34,680 Speaker 1: the most part, these are hidden risks and we're getting 205 00:11:34,679 --> 00:11:36,280 Speaker 1: insight into them for the first time. 206 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:45,920 Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to Big Take from Bloomberg News. I'm 207 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:49,600 Speaker 2: Sarah Holder. This episode was produced by Adriana Tapia. It 208 00:11:49,679 --> 00:11:52,520 Speaker 2: was edited by Caitlin Penny and Millie Munchie. It was 209 00:11:52,559 --> 00:11:56,120 Speaker 2: fact checked by Tiffany Choi. It was mixed by Alex Uguia. 210 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:59,600 Speaker 2: Our senior producers are Naomi Shaven and Jill Duddy Carlely. 211 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:04,079 Speaker 2: We get editorial direction from Elizabeth Ponso, Nicole Beemster bor 212 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:08,040 Speaker 2: is our executive producer. Sage Bauman is Bloomberg's head of podcasts. 213 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:11,360 Speaker 2: Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back tomorrow.