![]() ![]() In many areas in order to theoretically increase market competition governments force the company that owns and maintains the grid to allow others to subcontract the sale of electricity. Then adding to my confusion is the fact that there are of course multiple power companies, but there seems to be only one electrical grid. The most important thing to note about the means of disconnection is that it is accessible by the power company, but not by the end user or building maintenance, etc. The company knows my name and my address so is there some kind of switch in my apartment building with my apartment number in it that the company comes to open? This is unlikely, since how would the company know somebody doesn't go and flip the switch again? Do they somehow control the flow of electricity from the power station? This is again seems unlikely.Ĭontrolling the flow of electricity from the power station is actually what is accomplished by disconnecting the power by a switch or other means. This can be an electronic remote switch in modern systems, and is often simply disconnected by a power linesman, either at the nearest utility box, or by physically pulling out your meter head. At what point of the grid is the electricity cut?Īt the most practicable location. Let's say I fail to pay my electric bill and the power company decides to cut the electricity to my apartment. In fact, you can extend your tree analogy down to the branch circuits off of your electrical panel and the devices you have plugged into them. ![]() How does the company for which I'm paying the bill know that electricity produced specifically by them reaches MY apartment? At what point of the grid is the electricity cut? The company knows my name and my address so is there some kind of switch in my apartment building with my apartment number in it that the company comes to open? This is unlikely, since how would the company know somebody doesn't go and flip the switch again? Do they somehow control the flow of electricity from the power station? This is again seems unlikely. I would imagine the grid somehow splits into smaller sections like a tree whose endpoints are the final destinations, such as single apartments. I know the basics of energy production, and that the electricity comes to our homes using power lines resting upon those big supports we see everywhere. It is also interesting to note that this number is approximately 13 times the amount of US currency in circulation, according to the Treasury bulletin, which lists the amount at $853.6 billion as of December 31, 2008.I only have a somewhat vague understanding how the electrical grid works. If the amount was laid out, the area of the $1 bills would cover the state of Rhode Island three times over, and in $100 bills the amount would carpet about 3/4 the area of Washington DC. If consolidated into a single stack of $1 bills, it would measure about 749,666 miles, which is enough to reach from the earth to the moon twice (at perigee), with a few billion dollars left to spare. At this height, it would create a block of bills with a base approximately twice the size of the Empire State Building's, which is just under the size of three American football fields. ![]() If denominated in $1 bills, the cash would stack as high as the tallest building in the world, the 2683.7 foot Burj Dubai skyscraper… 1,474,918 times. $11,046,247,657,049.48 (According to US Treasury Direct, 3/26/09) The mounting US National debt, growing by billions every day, has recently topped the $11 trillion mark. ![]()
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