285
generate energy. Hydroelectric facilities and natural gas turbines are able to rapidly
ramp production to match demand peaks. “Demand Response” is another substitute for storage, and it involves programs that reduce power demand at peak times
to keep supply and demand for power in balance.
The soft infrastructure of the power grid involves consumers, regulators, owners, and financiers.
Consumers are mostly buildings, including factories, homes, and businesses,
with a major demand also by the water infrastructure sector. However, increasingly,
electric cars are consuming a lot of electrical power. In the USA, public and private
utilities own the entire electrical energy infrastructure in most cases. Merchant
power plants are owned separately from the transmission and distribution systems,
but many power plants are owned by the distribution utility in vertically integrated
arrangements. Private utilities bring their own capital, but public utilities are capitalized with various models. Electrical power (i.e., peak demand charges, Watts) is
priced separately from electrical energy (i.e., Watt-hours). Because storage is
expensive for electricity, many utilities charge more for on-peak power and energy
during high-demand periods. Prices are usually regulated and are relatively stable,
increasing in small increments each year. In the USA these utilities are usually overseen by publicly elected bodies and executive branch agencies that approve investment decisions and pricing and set reliability standards. The U.S. EPA enforces
regulations designed to protect endangered species on land and in rivers, affecting
large hydroelectric and solar projects, and limits air pollution especially from fossil
fuel powered plants, including recently CO 2 emissions. In the USA, “Balancing
Regions” are subdomains of a given power grid that are managed by a single
“Balancing Authority.” This authority is not the same as the utilities and power plant
operators. This authority has the responsibility to make sure that supply and demand
for power are balanced at all times and places within the Balancing Region, and that
reliability and quality of power meets the standards established by regulations.
10.3.6 Water
In the FEWSION database, water is classified into five subcategories: “fresh water”
(FC: 3300000), “potable water” (FC: 3310000), “saline water” (FC: 3320000),
“wastewater” (FC: 3330000), and “reclaimed water” (FC: 3340000). The water supply chain diagram above represents all but saline water. Wastewater and reclaimed
water are also referred in other supply chain explained in this chapter. Water is
pumped out of a river or a lake through a pump station to be sent to a water treatment station to be processes through filtering and chlorination. Processed water is
sent to industrial, business and residential consumers through mainlines where
pumps are employed when it is not possible to use gravity to distribution and when
water needs to be stored in water towers. Water also is extracted from underground
aquifers through wells to be used for water/food production process or industrial
applications such as cooling. Water is returned to the environment after it goes
10 Infrastructure
generate energy. Hydroelectric facilities and natural gas turbines are able to rapidly
ramp production to match demand peaks. “Demand Response” is another substitute for storage, and it involves programs that reduce power demand at peak times
to keep supply and demand for power in balance.
The soft infrastructure of the power grid involves consumers, regulators, owners, and financiers.
Consumers are mostly buildings, including factories, homes, and businesses,
with a major demand also by the water infrastructure sector. However, increasingly,
electric cars are consuming a lot of electrical power. In the USA, public and private
utilities own the entire electrical energy infrastructure in most cases. Merchant
power plants are owned separately from the transmission and distribution systems,
but many power plants are owned by the distribution utility in vertically integrated
arrangements. Private utilities bring their own capital, but public utilities are capitalized with various models. Electrical power (i.e., peak demand charges, Watts) is
priced separately from electrical energy (i.e., Watt-hours). Because storage is
expensive for electricity, many utilities charge more for on-peak power and energy
during high-demand periods. Prices are usually regulated and are relatively stable,
increasing in small increments each year. In the USA these utilities are usually overseen by publicly elected bodies and executive branch agencies that approve investment decisions and pricing and set reliability standards. The U.S. EPA enforces
regulations designed to protect endangered species on land and in rivers, affecting
large hydroelectric and solar projects, and limits air pollution especially from fossil
fuel powered plants, including recently CO 2 emissions. In the USA, “Balancing
Regions” are subdomains of a given power grid that are managed by a single
“Balancing Authority.” This authority is not the same as the utilities and power plant
operators. This authority has the responsibility to make sure that supply and demand
for power are balanced at all times and places within the Balancing Region, and that
reliability and quality of power meets the standards established by regulations.
10.3.6 Water
In the FEWSION database, water is classified into five subcategories: “fresh water”
(FC: 3300000), “potable water” (FC: 3310000), “saline water” (FC: 3320000),
“wastewater” (FC: 3330000), and “reclaimed water” (FC: 3340000). The water supply chain diagram above represents all but saline water. Wastewater and reclaimed
water are also referred in other supply chain explained in this chapter. Water is
pumped out of a river or a lake through a pump station to be sent to a water treatment station to be processes through filtering and chlorination. Processed water is
sent to industrial, business and residential consumers through mainlines where
pumps are employed when it is not possible to use gravity to distribution and when
water needs to be stored in water towers. Water also is extracted from underground
aquifers through wells to be used for water/food production process or industrial
applications such as cooling. Water is returned to the environment after it goes
10 Infrastructure