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Shorting the Grid: The Hidden Fragility of Our Electric Grid Paperback – October 13, 2020

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 298 ratings

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When rolling blackouts come to the electric grid, they will be old news to the grid insiders. Only the electricity customers will be surprised. Grid insiders know how fragile the grid is becoming. Unfortunately, they have no incentive to solve the problems because near-misses increase their profits. Meredith Angwin describes how closed meetings, arcane auction rules, and five-minute planning horizons will topple the reliability of our electric grid. Shorting the Grid shines light on our vulnerable grid. It also suggests actions that can support the grid that supports all of us.
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Editorial Reviews

Review

In Shorting the Grid, Meredith Angwin provides an enormously valuable, clear, and succinct explanation of our most important network...If you care about the future of our increasingly electrified world, buy this book and read it.

- Robert Bryce, author of A Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations


An eye-opening exposé of our grid's vulnerabilities...If you take for granted that the lights go on when you flip a switch, this book may blow your mind.

- Joshua S. Goldstein, author of A Bright Future, How Some Countries have Solved Climate Change and the Rest Can Follow


Shorting the Grid is full of sharp writing and engaging stories about the most hidden part of our grid - how grid-level decisions are made.

- Dan Nott, artist and author of Hidden Systems, a forthcoming graphic non-fiction book on infrastructure


The National Academy of Engineering describes the U.S. power grid as the "supreme engineering achievement of the 20th century." ...Shorting the Grid reveals reasons why we must pay more attention to grid governance and the potential of poor decisions to override technical successes.

- Rod Adams: blogger at Atomic Insights, Managing Member at Nucleation Capital LP

About the Author

As a working chemist, Meredith Angwin headed projects that lowered pollution and increased reliability on the electric grid. Her work included pollution control for nitrogen oxides in gas-fired combustion turbines, and corrosion control in geothermal and nuclear systems. She was one of the first women to be a project manager at the Electric Power Research Institute. She led projects in renewable and nuclear energy. In the past ten years, she began to study and take part in grid oversight and governance. For four years, she served on the Coordinating Committee for the Consumer Liaison Group associated with ISO-NE, her local grid operator. She teaches courses and presents workshops on the electric grid. She and her husband George live in Vermont. They have two children and four grandchildren who live in the New York City area. Contact her at meredithangwin@gmail.com

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Carnot Communications (October 13, 2020)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 440 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1735358002
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1735358000
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.29 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 298 ratings

About the author

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Meredith Angwin
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As a working chemist, Meredith Angwin headed projects that lowered pollution and increased reliability on the electric grid. Her work included pollution control for nitrogen oxides in gas-fired combustion turbines and corrosion control in geothermal and nuclear systems. She was one of the first women to be a project manager at the Electric Power Research Institute where she led projects in renewable and nuclear energy.

In the past ten years, she began to study and take part in grid oversight and governance. For four years, she served on the Coordinating Committee for the Consumer Liaison Group associated with ISO-NE, her local grid operator. She teaches courses and presents workshops on the electric grid.

She and her husband George live in Vermont. They have two children and four grandchildren, who live in the New York City area.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
298 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book's language easy to understand and informative. They describe it as an interesting, entertaining read that provides a basic education on the electric grid. The author has extensive experience with the grid and offers a sober assessment of its current state. However, opinions differ on the reliability and electricity supply.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

36 customers mention "Language"28 positive8 negative

Customers find the book's language straightforward and easy to understand. They describe it as an engaging read with clear explanations and pristine grammar. The author provides an excellent description of today's grid with less detail. Overall, readers appreciate the clear thinking and well-presented analysis.

"...The grammar is pristine, with no strange idiosyncrasies of capitalization or punctuation. As a self-appointed proof-reader, I notice these things...." Read more

"...on grid reliability and cost, which is what makes this book an essential guide for anyone hoping to understand how to mitigate climate change..." Read more

"...She writes with a conversational tone with first-person statements throughout, a voice that might turn off some readers...." Read more

"This book contains a lot of detailed, technical information, which is intended to be accessible for the average lay person...." Read more

34 customers mention "Information quality"32 positive2 negative

Customers find the book informative and insightful. They say it provides a basic education on the electric grid in an easy-to-understand manner. The book is well-researched and provides a unique view of a neglected topic. It's engaging and readable for non-technical readers, providing plenty of ah-ha moments for industry veterans. Overall, it's considered a must-read for policymakers at all levels, electric power professionals, and anyone concerned.

"...for Clean Air,” which I also reviewed, is the best book on advocacy and activism I have ever read, and having been a political activist in my time,..." Read more

"...First, to demystify the workings of the grid and that trend towards unreliability for those of us outside closed doors in the utilities industry...." Read more

"...It is a good contribution to the discussion." Read more

"...A must read for policymakers at all levels, electric power professionals, and anyone concerned with the future of reliable and cost effective..." Read more

31 customers mention "Readability"31 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and engaging. They describe it as an excellent primer on the electric grid and a must-read for anyone interested in decarbonizing electricity. The book is described as a wonderful resource that can be shared with policymakers.

"Shorting the Grid, by Meredith Angwin, could have made great bed-time reading — put you right to sleep! Could have been. But it isn’t...." Read more

"...This is essential reading, truly essential, for anyone reporting on climate mitigation." Read more

"...of the business and her writing abilities make it a strong and delightful [I mean that] read regardless of your expertise or your politics...." Read more

"...This should be a must read for anyone in government, energy, or technology. The mess that is our national grid is beyond imagination...." Read more

8 customers mention "Understanding of the grid"8 positive0 negative

Customers find the book helpful for understanding the power grid. They appreciate the author's experience and sense of humor. The book provides a thorough and engaging explanation of one of today's most important topics.

"...about these deep issues, but she has certainly done good work in drawing a road map for the rest of the territory." Read more

"...So in the end, this is a great book to understand how the grid works NOW, but electricity generating contraptions can't replace the fossils used in..." Read more

"Author has vast experience w/the grid, combining a great sense of humor w/ability to explain in lay terms how the systems works." Read more

"...Well researched, well written, engaging. Informative." Read more

6 customers mention "Humor"6 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the humor in the book.

"...of challenging technical and legal issues together with a touch of humor rarely seen in technical publications...." Read more

"...It is readable, thoroughly footnoted, even funny in places. She gives great examples of real situations that illustrate her points...." Read more

"...author writes so personably, with thought-provoking analogies and touches of humor, that the experience is like chatting about this serious subject..." Read more

"The book on a complex topic is written with exceptional clarity and humor...." Read more

12 customers mention "Reliability"6 positive6 negative

Customers have different views on the reliability of the electricity system. Some say it's very reliable, while others say it's unstable and unreliable.

"...electric power professionals, and anyone concerned with the future of reliable and cost effective electric energy in the future." Read more

"...Further, renewables are intermittent, unpredictable, and unreliable, due to the fact that the sun is not always shining nor the wind blowing...." Read more

"...Her understanding of the business and her writing abilities make it a strong and delightful [I mean that] read regardless of your expertise or your..." Read more

"This is a shocking review of how fragile and complex our national grid has become...." Read more

6 customers mention "Electricity supply"3 positive3 negative

Customers have different views on the electricity supply. Some find it reliable and suitable for policymakers, while others mention issues with renewables being intermittent, unpredictable, and unreliable. The book explains why heavy-duty trucks cannot run on electricity and why the electric grid cannot be 100% renewable.

"...A must read for policymakers at all levels, electric power professionals, and anyone concerned with the future of reliable and cost effective..." Read more

"...Further, renewables are intermittent, unpredictable, and unreliable, due to the fact that the sun is not always shining nor the wind blowing...." Read more

"...A reliable electric power grid is a hallmark of advanced civilization...." Read more

"...No wind, no power from the turbines. No natural gas, the gas plants go offline...." Read more

Crucial information for clean energy enthusiasts
5 out of 5 stars
Crucial information for clean energy enthusiasts
Shorting the Grid, Meredith AngwinBook reviewAmazon, 20201114This book is a must read for anyone seeking to understand the inner workings of our electrical grid. The grid is a complicated topic on both technical and policy levels.With the elevated focus on climate change and emissions reductions, our electricity supply is coming under deeper scrutiny, and the trend will continue as we attempt to electrify other sectors such as transportation (some nations and states are declaring that all vehicles will be electric by set target dates) and residential construction (many cities are pursuing bans on new fossil fuel infrastructure such as natural gas supplies to houses). There will be more and more demand for clean electricity, and more resultant strain placed on existing grid infrastructure. We must begin planning for this future, and to plan, we must understand the current situation.Fortunately for us, we now have this wonderful resource to share with our policy-makers, and we can give examples of why certain improvements are necessary in straightforward, level-headed, and no-nonsense terminology. Meredith has armed us with both knowledge and the capacity to share understanding of what may become one of the most important issues of our future - how to keep our civilization powered while also protecting human health and the planet.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2020
    Shorting the Grid, by Meredith Angwin, could have made great bed-time reading — put you right to sleep! Could have been. But it isn’t. I honestly don’t know how anyone managed to write a book like this, but she did it. The complexity of the multiple layers of policies and their relationships in much of our grid governance is truly unbelievable. Markets that aren’t really markets, “deregulation” with ever-growing mountains of regulations, renewable energy credits (RECs) and zero emission credits (ZECs), forward capacity auctions, jump-ball filings… Oh my!

    But the complexity is the point. It isn’t a bug, it’s a feature! Angwin begins by stating the obvious: People expect reliable, inexpensive, plentiful, and clean electrical power using a diversity of fuels, and a resilient and well-balanced grid. But in the Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) areas, none of that matters. This left me frankly gob-smacked. Nobody has responsibility for maintaining a reliable grid. There are no adults in the room. There is no consumer choice, no transparency, no accountability. “The buck never stops anywhere," as she aptly points out. And this is our wake-up call.

    The problems are too many to enumerate in a review, but I will mention a few of them:

    * Grid-scale storage is forever a thing of the future — like fusion power, always “about twenty years away.” And extremely resource intensive.
    * Renewables are “cheap” because they make their real money on “out-of-market revenues.” This allows them to bid to sell power at very low, even negative, prices, which drives down the grid prices for everyone else. Further, renewables are intermittent, unpredictable, and unreliable, due to the fact that the sun is not always shining nor the wind blowing. They must always be backed up with load-following generation, and the best load-followers are fossil plants. And the higher the penetration of renewables, the greater the instability of the grid.
    * The FERC requires RTOs to be fuel-neutral. This leads to shortages, as happens when dual-fuel gas/oil plants cannot be required to stock oil on site, and eventually to rolling blackouts.
    * Simply selling kWh to the grid is not the least bit lucrative. The most reliable power generators that we have, nuclear plants, cannot be profitable by doing what they do best. This leads to closure of highly reliable and non-pollutung power plants. And once a nuclear plant is closed, it does not reopen. Further, the reliable power is almost always replaced by whatever is the next most reliable source — namely, fossil fuels.
    * Markets are supposed to be about customer choice. In an RTO area, there is no choice — the “customer” is really just a “ratepayer."
    * RTOs attempt to solve almost any problem with another kind of auction. Perhaps the most startling thing about the auctions is the way in which the “clearing price” is determined. This is the price that all generators receive. And the price is not set at the lowest bid, it is set at the highest! But wait, renewables can bid the grid prices way down. Confused? You are not alone! Remember, confusion is a feature.

    And at the end of the day, electricity prices tend to be higher in the “deregulated” RTO areas. It simply has not worked out the way telephone and airline deregulation did. None of these problems are about the power generators, technology, fuel choices, or carbon footprints. The problem is in the governance. The question, as always, is: who profits? Follow the money. And the result is an expensive, fragile, and high-carbon grid.

    I could go on, but as Meredith wanted to write a readable book, so I want to write a readable review. I do want to mention her coverage of the difference between choices made by Germany and France (as well as Sweden and Ontario). Germany tried to decarbonize by building massive renewables — and closing their non-emitting nuclear plants. The result has been an expensive and high-carbon grid. France, in contrast, successfully decarbonized in ten years by going nuclear. Same with Sweden and Ontario. The choices made by governments are what make the difference, not individual behaviors. Organizations that push consumers toward what I call energy austerity encourage us to make personal sacrifices in order to do our part. This is just another case of passing the buck. If you are of the belief that taking personal responsibility for using less energy will lead to lower emissions, then the author with the lesson of Germany, will disabuse you of this notion. The RTOs push us toward the German model. Our role models should, rather, be France, Sweden, and Ontario.

    Meredith says that this book was ten years in the making. I can believe it. She insisted that she could not and would not produce a book that was unreadable or would put the reader to sleep. Fear not! She writes in a conversational way, as if you are talking over dinner, or sharing coffee and brownies. (Never forget the brownies!)

    The grammar is pristine, with no strange idiosyncrasies of capitalization or punctuation. As a self-appointed proof-reader, I notice these things. Throughout the entire 400 pages, I think I counted all of three very minor typos that did not obscure the meaning in any way. Every word is obviously chosen with care. There is no arcane language, and every industry term, buzzword, and practice is carefully explained. It includes extensive endnotes — 292, to be exact. I recommend following many of these references, especially to her blog posts.

    Finally, she concludes with a chapter on actions that we can take. She does not tell us all about these shocking problems without leaving us with great suggestions for what we can do about them. This was entirely expected — her previous book, “Campaigning for Clean Air,” which I also reviewed, is the best book on advocacy and activism I have ever read, and having been a political activist in my time, I have read a few.

    Do yourself a favor — buy and read this book. And then share it.
    54 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2022
    Every time I read an article or listen to a podcast on how solar & wind will replace gas & oil, I hear why it's urgent and how inexpensive solar & wind have become. It's what I don't hear that concerns me. How exactly will we prevent blackouts during extended periods of calm? What will it cost to build all the grid-scale storage that will be needed?

    Angwin looks at the impact of intermittent renewables on grid reliability and cost, which is what makes this book an essential guide for anyone hoping to understand how to mitigate climate change without all the partisan hand-waving.

    The book flows well despite the deep dives into policy. Her opinions keep the book from being a dry recitation. She cares deeply about the effect of bad policy on people.

    Specifically, she explains some of the engineering:
    * What is the grid? How is power generated, managed, and transmitted so you see a fairly constant voltage, an invariant 60-cycles and all the amps you need.
    * What is reactive power and why does that matter? Why is reactive power different between constant rotating generators, like steam turbines, and DC to AC generators like solar & wind.
    * Why the intermittency of renewables makes fossil fuel generation less efficient.

    For example:
    "Even the internal combustion plants are not “instant” the way you need to have electricity be “instant.” So there’s this whole other thing called “ancillary services” on the grid: this basically consists of paying plants to be on various types of hot standby, often with turbines spinning (but no load), ready to send their power to the grid very fast, when called on."

    Personally, I had no idea that response to load variations had to be that fast and that massive and how they manage it.

    She explains the 'duck curve' when solar power drops and demand rises at dusk, and the fast rising heavy load that puts on other sources of power.

    Indeed, I would have preferred more engineering and less policy, but it is primarily a book about policy. She details:

    * The history of deregulation and why it's resulted in a new kind of byzantine regulation - and it IS byzantine.
    * What is an RTO (regional transmission organization) and how they come into conflict with FERC, the federal regulators.
    * The strange machinations RTOs perform to achieve policy goals like winter reliability with the federally mandated auctions and fuel neutrality
    * The impact of restricting gas pipeline capacity
    * The unsustainability of net-metering
    * The extent to which wind & solar will have to be overbuilt if they are to replace fossil fuels & nuclear. Some estimates run 5 to 8 times peak demand.
    * The difference between lithium ion battery peaking facilities and baseload storage. Why we'll need a monumental and unlikely breakthrough in storage for renewables to replace fossil & nuclear.

    Some negatives:
    * The policy section gets repetitive and goes into a level of detail that feels unnecessary.
    * The focus on New England may make it less interesting for people from other parts of the country.
    * The engineering section was too short and unclear in places. The deep dives into auctions and RTOs too long.

    Despite the flaws I give it 5 stars because of the dearth of material and the deep misconceptions on what is perhaps the most important aspect of climate mitigation.

    This is essential reading, truly essential, for anyone reporting on climate mitigation.
    5 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Rennie
    5.0 out of 5 stars The increasing fragility of the electric grid
    Reviewed in Canada on July 16, 2023
    Meredith Angwin describes how and why the electrical grid is becoming more fragile. Essentially, a convoluted, supposedly market driven set of rules is being applied to a system which has traditionally worked best as a vertically integrated monopoly.

    Renewable energies, Meredith explains, such as wind and solar, are not able to supply the 'just in time' needs of consumers. Meredith wrote about a costly, Greenpeace funded solar initiative in India, which failed. Ironically, the failure resulted in the villagers protesting for a grid powered by coal.

    Readers of this review may be interested in knowing that Patrick Moore, one of the original founders of Greenpeace, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, left Greenpeace. Patrick Moore, like Meredith Angwin, is an advocate for nuclear power.

    A few months before reading Meredith's book, I became aware of how important a well functioning grid is after reading 'No Life to Envy'. This book reveals what happened to North Koreans after the Soviet Union collapsed.

    Meredith is extremely knowledgeable, and her book is well written, and in several places, even humorous! I highly recommend this book to anyone who is concerned about the future of electric grids.
  • Cliente de Amazon
    5.0 out of 5 stars Súper interesante
    Reviewed in Mexico on December 23, 2022
    Resume de manera que alguien que no sabe del tema sea capaz de entender los temas torales. Muy buen libro
  • Rodrigo Barreda Maza
    5.0 out of 5 stars Ok
    Reviewed in Germany on May 11, 2024
  • Matt Robinson
    5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent insight into the American electricity grid system
    Reviewed in Australia on July 24, 2022
    Ever wondered about the headwinds blocking innovation and efficiency in the American electricity grid? This book exposes the often ludicrous and scandalous policies governing the management of critical fuel supplies and the greed that renders the grid difficult to maintain, causing shortages and unnecessary expense to the public.
  • Scott Luft
    5.0 out of 5 stars A coherent explanation of the complexities of electricity systems, and a warning...
    Reviewed in Canada on May 11, 2021
    I have not written reviews of books and have delayed writing this for too long. In fairness, I've been interested in the subject for some time and was concerned my comments would just echo back that Angwin had been singing to the choir, so to speak.
    And then Texas had blackouts during a winter cold snap. I had a much richer understanding of the reporting on the causes, costs, and political maneuvering to avoid responsibility in Texas for having read 'Shorting the Grid'.

    I enjoyed this book. It felt like the other side of a conversation with a friend politely communicating the complexities of what's been called the world's biggest machine, Some of it did buttress my prior knowledge but never was it work to get through familiar topics as Angwin's pace, content and delivery kept me in the conversation throughout.

    I won't summarize the content, because I think the author has done a far better job on that than I could.
    I recommend this book to anybody with an interest in knowing more about electricity systems; from the roles a functioning system needs to fulfil to the politics of the entities active in working to profit, or serve, within the system. This should be most people as electricity is critical to our personnel lives and our society.