CHARLOTTE — Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm visited Charlotte on Monday to discuss strengthening the grid against extreme weather conditions.
Channel 9′s Madison Carter attended Monday’s meeting to learn how much it could cost the public.
Last Christmas Eve, Duke Energy implemented surprise rolling outages to save power during a severe storm.
At the time, the company said its system could not handle the energy demand. However, federal officals are saying time is up on this reasoning.
“We’ve got to take seriously the hardening of the grid. And when we say hardening of the grid, that means in areas, for example, that are prone to hurricanes, to wildfires, undergrounding those transmission lines,” Granholm said.
Granholm said the nation’s power grid needs to stay up and running, especially in the midst of a natural disaster.
“We really need, as a nation, to take care of the largest machine that we have, which is the U.S. electric grid. And it was built in the 1950′s in many places on wooden poles. I mean, it is it is not equipped it’s not fit for purpose today,” Granholm explained.
When asked how much this strengthening of the grid would cost customers, Granholm did not give a specific amount.
However, she did say that the money, which Duke Energy estimates to be at least $4 billion over the course of three years, needs to go towards preventing power outages. Not towards clean-up efforts after the fact.
When it comes to intentional power grid attacks, Channel 9 found that energy companies have few federal standards to actually protect your power.
“We have been talking with utilities. We have an electricity sector coordinating council that the Department of Energy works with utilities on. It is very top of mind for all of them,” Granholm said.
Channel 9 pushed Granholm for a more direct response on whether the federal government plans to set standards for companies to have basic security measures in place, such as things like cameras.
She said the administration is currently in discussions about doing just that.
(WATCH BELOW: Officials hear from customers after Duke Energy requests rate hike)
©2023 Cox Media Group
