Solar storms increase as electric grid braces for impact!

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina - August 3, 2011 - Storms are brewing about 93 million miles away, and if one of them reaches Earth, it could knock out communications, scramble GPS, and leave thousands without power for weeks or even months.

The tempest is what's known as a solar storm, a flurry of charged particles that erupts from the sun. Under the right conditions, solar storms can create extra electrical currents in Earth's magnetosphere - the region around the planet controlled by our magnetic field.

The electrical power grid is particularly vulnerable to these extra currents, which can infiltrate high-voltage transmission lines, causing transformers to overheat and possibly burn out.

"The concern is if the electric grid lost a number of transformers during a single storm, replacing them would be difficult and time-consuming," said Rich Lordan, senior technical executive for power delivery and utilization at the Electric Power Research Institute.

"These power transformers are very big devices, and the lead time to get a replacement can be two months - if there's a spare one stored nearby. If a utility has to order a new one from the manufacturer, it could take from six months to two years to deliver."

The danger is becoming more critical, as the sun is approaching what's known as solar maximum - the high point in our star's roughly 11-year cycle of activity. Scientists anticipate stronger storms around the anticipated solar maximum, in 2013.

Using the latest sun-watching satellites and computer models, scientists have been trying to improve solar storm predictions. At the same time, electricity operators are developing plans for how to respond to solar storm warnings and determine what the consequences for the grid might be in a worst-case scenario.

"Geomagnetic storms are low-probability, high-impact events," said Lordan. "When assessing the risk to the grid, one has to ask, what's the level of storm intensity for which the grid system should be prepared?

"Based on data and the scenarios we can reasonably expect, I believe the power-delivery system can operate through a solar storm," added Lordan.