InfrastructurePower grid experiment could throw clocks off
Beginning in July, electronic clocks in the United States could begin running as much as twenty minutes ahead; the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the agency in charge of the U.S. electrical grid is considering an experiment that would alter the frequency of the energy current in an effort to make the power supply more reliable and save money
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the agency in charge of the U.S. electrical grid is consideringan experiment that would alter the frequency of the energy current in an effort to make the power supply more reliable and save money.
“A lot of people are going to have things break and they’re not going to know why,” said Demetrios Matsakis, the head of the U.S. Naval Observatory time service department, one of the two official government timekeeping agencies.
Electric clocks, like those plug-in clocks or on microwave ovens, measure time based on the rate of the power current that power them, so if the current varies, the clock can run faster or slower.
Power utilities currently try to maintain as consistent a current as possible, but FERCis considering allowing the current to go uncorrected and fluctuate more widely.
Joe McClelland, the director of FERC, explained that constantly adjusting the power grid’s frequency is expensive and requires a lot of effort.
“Let’s see if anyone complains if we eliminate it,” McClelland said.
Matsakis added that this experiment will be interesting to see how dependent people are on the power grid to tell time.
Officials are unsure of what appliances or clocks will be affected. Cellphones, GPS, and computer clocks will not be affected and neither will official U.S. time or Internet time, but wall clocks, time pieces on coffeemakers, and anything that flashes “12:00” when the power goes out,will be off a little each second and over time will grow increasingly inaccurate.
According to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, which runs the nation’s interlocking web of transmission lines and power plants, with the experiment, clocks on the East Coast could run as much as twenty minutes fast, while clocks on the West Coast would be off by eight minutes.
Kimberly Mielcarek, a spokeswoman for the energy corporation, said the company is still discussing the test and soliciting comments on the proposal.
The test is tentatively scheduled to begin in mid-July, but the company said that it could delay the experiment.
