The recent transformer fire at the DWP year on Parthenia highlighted the issues of deferred infrastructure and the lack of an effective resiliency plan to cope with our aging utilities and growing energy needs. Given the onset of our increasingly warmer weather, days with temperatures over 100 will increase and become the norm, thereby taxing our aging electrical grid. According to the LA Times article of July 8th, the burning transformer, the size of a large truck, was more than 40 years old and needed to be replaced in the next to five to ten years. There are a total of 70 large transformers in the utility’s greater network, with 20 of them needing to be replaced at a cost of about $5 million each. A 2015 DWP report found the utility will need to rebuild and modernize much of its aging power grid infrastructure over the next 15 years. The same report cited research stating that eight of the utility’s 70 high-v...
Creative and Sustainable Development for the Next Decade