![]() This difference in power represents energy lost as heat from the resistance of the extension cord. ![]() Trying this again at the end of a long extension cord, the drop in voltage is much more significant. We can measure a small drop in voltage when a hair dryer is plugged directly into an outlet and turned on. Even good conductors like aluminum and copper have some resistance to the flow of electric current. But, if we want this transport to be efficient, there’s more to consider. Power lines are the obvious solution to this problem, and sure enough, stringing wires (normally called conductors by power professionals) over vast expanses of rural countryside is, in general, how bulk transport of electricity is carried out. That means that massive amounts of electricity need to be transported long distances from where it’s created to where it’s used. The problem is most power plants are usually located far away from populated areas for a variety of reasons: land is cheaper in rural areas, many plants require large cooling ponds, and most people don’t like to live near large industrial facilities. So if we’re going to go to the trouble of producing electricity, we want to make sure that as much of it as possible actually reaches the customers for whom it’s intended. They aren’t compensated for energy lost on the grid. Electric utilities only earn revenue on the power that makes it to your meter. Generating electricity is a major endeavor, often a complex industrial process that requires huge capital investments and ongoing costs for operation, maintenance, and fuel. On today’s episode we’re talking about electrical transmission lines. Hey I’m Grady and this is Practical Engineering. Stringing power lines across the landscape to connect cities to power plants may seem as simple as connecting an extension cord to an outlet, but the engineering behind these electric superhighways is more complicated and fascinating than you might think. As power plants grew larger and further away from populated areas, the need for ways to efficiently move electricity over long distances has become more and more important. Since then, things have changed, and most of us get our electricity from the grid, huge interconnected areas of power producers and users. Electricity didn’t have far to travel between where it was created and where it was used. ![]()
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