It's true, the N. American power grid is very vulnerable but isn't it true for any large grid? Power is transfered all over Canada and US depending on power needs at that time, power is constantly being switched and diverted using computer programs that are all interconnected like the internet all over the continent. BC provides power for quite a bit of western N America. If one Transmission line gets cut off they can re-route the power to an extent but if a main generating station went down we would be in trouble. Our N American power grid is also pushed to max levels of power distribution as it is. But like I said arn't all power grids similar across the planet?

Canadian Expert Compares North American Power Grid to “String of Christmas Lights that’s been Running Since the 1950s”/Temp
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Saturday, August 11, 2007

"Just like they told us that our bridges were safe, they also want us to swallow that our power grid is in no danger of a system-wide, no-power-for-weeks crash", said tenured grid expert Donald McCormick, a senior contractor with Hydro One based in Ontario, Canada.

Mr. McCormick indicated that in reality though, there’s no question that the system of grids that supply power throughout the continent are in much worse shape than the majority of bridges, levees and borders in Canada and U.S. He has over two decades of experience in all aspects of power grid construction, infrastructure, maintenance, and distribution. During a recent interview Mr. McCormick compared the ten major interconnected power regions that comprise the “North American Grid” to a string of Christmas lights that’s been active non-stop since the 1950s. Mr. McCormick's qualifications include being a licensed red seal interprovincial/interstate electrical engineer and he's worked at numerous power generating stations mainly in Canada, but also across the U.S. He's participated in building regional infrastructure related to both generation and distribution. Additionally, Mr. McCormick iss Orange Level qualified as an Atomic Radiation Worker (ARW) registered in Geneva, Switzerland.

During the interview, Mr. McCormick offered his candid assessment of today’s continental “power grid” and made several startling observations about this critical, civilization-supporting industry. His power plant experience includes both nuclear and coal, and he’s a certified expert in alternative fuel technologies such as wind, solar and hydrogen. He said that, from nuclear to coal, the majority of power generating plants operating across North America have momentous deficiencies, and the collective 10-region “power grid” has not been maintained properly (across the board) since the 1960s. It's well known that population growth has created a state of affairs in which North American power consumption is far greater than what’s being yielded by our current technological capacity to generate consumable energy. Mr. McCormick indicated that the infamous August 2003 blackout, in which the Northeastern U.S., Mid-Eastern U.S. and most of Ontario suffered stifling, life-interrupting blackouts, was just the beginning of something much more significant. In reference to the North American Power Grid Initiative, he said that it’s nothing more than a case of, “too little, too late”.

Mr. McCormick further stated with regard to the state of today’s power generating plants, “You’re frequently seeing substandard parts and equipment being employed, on sites across the continent, and being used for sensitive construction projects, often related to components integral to the grid system itself. North American nuclear energy generating plants are among the worst when it comes to safety violations, not only endangering on-site employees with blatant disregard but also literally thousands of people with regard to unregulated, unnoticed pollution and waste being dumped in rivers, lakes and oceans, into the atmosphere and, more specifically, our entire ecosystem”.

Mr. McCormick strongly feels that another major breakdown of the grid system may occur by the end of this year, and he further stated that he’s also concerned that, due to a number of known deficiencies in the network, the domestic power grid system is also in grave danger of being undermined by terrorists.

Sources
This article features first-hand journalism by Wikinews members. See the collaboration page for more details.

Joe Burd "Expert Says Domestic Power Grid Verging On Collapse, Vunerable to Attack" – Disinformation Today (c) 2007 Joe Burd, August 11, 2007

I wonder if I had posted something like this if I would be arrested for terrorism? If so are they[China] not harboring terrorists? Well Mr Obama go get'em. LOL . I can on imagine what would happen to a US citizen if they had posted something like that.

I know that Obama had touched on the infrastructure points before.Bridges,roads,power lines etc.At his rate on health care reform he may get to the power grid in 2030 if he could be in office that long.The best thing the prez has been at so far is signing exec orders.When all the bridges fail and some freak or mega storm takes out the power grid then we will worry about it. But until we can stop spending trillions on wars and defense we will just have to live with our antique infrastructure.

Rather than getting angry about this, it should be considered a gift. These people have simply pointed out a weakness in the American power grid (most of us already know about this weakness anyways). This information should be used to fix potential areas of weakness. The kid that wrote the paper is only pointing out a point of weakness (I think he did us a favor). Should we just get pissed at them for pointing it out or should we learn from it? I think learning from it would be much more beneficial.

america is not concerned with it's citizens welfare or safety.they are concerned with government control of it's citizens.

ruh roh