What states have the worst power line standards?

Of the over 6.5 million miles of distribution lines across the country, each electric grid is not created equally. The U.S. electric grid delivers over 3,800 terawatt-hours of power to more than 150 million end points during the calendar year. This can result in some crappy infrastructure for states that have either chose not to make the investments in improvements over time or are at a disadvantage geographically.

Rhode Island is slowly improving on its issues with surges

Rhode Island has shown significant progress in translating renewable energy to the regional power grid. However, one of the most fundamental components of electric grid management is demand function predictions. During recent years several regions within the state have struggled with surging demand. New England has been a strong advocate for carbon-pricing program and light-duty electric vehicles but the basics of supplying electricity to homes and business serves as a bit of a black eye.

Lineman in this area of the country are often stretched thin as the demand for infrastructure improvements remains high.

West Virginia struggles with electric consistency

While many politicians have made it the main stay of their political campaigns, electrical consistency in West Virginia remains a serious problem. The two major electric companies that supply for the power for the region are Appalachian Power and First Energy. When strong storms knock down trees across the state it can be a major struggle to deploy the team to stay up with damage let alone improve the electric infrastructure. The companies have stated efforts to improve their customer notification systems however much of the challenge in this state is due to both the geographic layout of the state and its rural spread. In some parts of rural West Virginia is now common place to go without electricity for several weeks after a major storm.

California state leadership has the lights on and no one is home

The state of California has put itself on the map with some of the most aggressive renewable energy goals in the country. That being said, many of its residents are experiencing electricity shortages. While some of these shortages can be attributed to the heat waves that often hit southern parts of the state it is also fair to say that the consistency of more eco-friendly power sources can cause issues.

The state of California requires that utilities currently obtain at least 33% of its power from renewable resources. It remains to be seen at what capacity other states may follow suit. A major question that will likely impact the careers of lineman in the state of California is how efficient battery technology can improve in coming years. The states Independent System Operator, a nonprofit agency that manages the states power supply, has often improved rolling blackouts that impact hundreds of thousands of customers for several hours at a time.