We take power for granted – until the lights go out or our appliances fail. It’s all thanks to a sophisticated power generation, transmission, and distribution network called the electrical grid.
Your utility company provides the infrastructure that powers your home, even in deregulated states. The cost of this service shows up on your energy bill as utility charges and supply charges.
Generation
The electrical energy that lights your home and runs your appliances has come a long way. From the power plants where it’s generated to your light switches and outlets, electricity is a sophisticated system that takes years to build and billions of dollars to maintain.
Once it leaves the power plant, electricity flows into transmission lines between tall metal poles. These lines carry varying voltage levels, with higher-voltage electricity traveling longer distances than lower-voltage electricity. To accommodate this, switch station transformers increase or decrease the voltage passing through the transmission lines. Eventually, the power arrives at a distribution substation. From here, it’s sent on miles of lower-voltage lines to your neighborhood, where the voltage is stepped down again at distribution transformers before connecting to your home.
When it reaches your house, electricity is circulated through a service drop and a meter that records how much you use. It enters your house through a circuit breaker box and moves into the wires behind your walls to reach your light switches and outlets.
The local electric company Midland, TX manages the network of power lines that deliver electricity to your house. It is also the entity that issues your monthly electric bill and charges for the supply and delivery of electricity. However, these rates are regulated and cannot be changed by the supplier you choose to work with.
Transmission
It’s easy to take electricity for granted until the lights go out. Then, you realize just how amazing a technology it is. It takes a lot of sophisticated infrastructure to get power from the power plant to your home.
The high-voltage electricity that leaves the power plant moves through transmission lines typically strung between tall metal poles. These lines, which can be hundreds of miles long, allow electricity to travel long distances more efficiently than lower voltage distribution power lines.
Once the electricity reaches a transmission hub or distribution substation, it is channeled through transformers that lower the voltage again. From there, it is distributed to networks of local distribution power lines that carry the electricity closer to homes and businesses. Distribution line voltages are typically 66 kV or 115 kV.
These lines are often seen as three wires hanging from tall poles, with a fourth wire lower down on the pole for grounding. When someone strikes one of these wires, such as with a car, it directly connects power and ground, causing a dangerous outage.
The entity responsible for distributing power to your home, an electric utility, is regulated by state law. These companies can be not-for-profit municipal electric utilities, member-owned electric cooperatives, private, for-profit electric utilities owned by stockholders, or regulated electric power generators. The local electric utility is responsible for delivering electricity to your home and charges you a separate supply and delivery charge on your monthly bill.
Distribution
Power moves from power plants to homes via a network of electricity substations, transformers, and lines. This complex system, often called a grid, connects thousands of power producers to hundreds of millions of energy consumers. It is so massive that it takes years to plan and millions to build.
Local electricity utilities are the entities that manage this network of electric lines. Their job is to deliver electricity to homes and businesses. They may own their power plants, buy electricity from power marketers or other wholesale generators, or get it from a wholesale market organized by a regional transmission reliability organization.
Before electricity gets to your home, it goes through transformers in electric distribution substations that lower the voltage. This is because higher voltages are dangerous to people and animals. It then enters your neighborhood through networks of electric distribution lines, typically suspended on tall wood or lightweight steel poles.
These lines carry three wires, typically for 3-phase power: two are hot (black and white), and one is cold (bare). They travel to your meter box, where they connect to circuit breaker boxes in your house that enable the flow of electricity to switches and outlets at the flip of a switch or the click of a button. Your local utility company is responsible for delivering electricity, and this part of the energy market is still regulated in most states. The local utility company bills you monthly with a charge for supply and a delivery charge.
Customer Service
Electric utility companies are the ones to call if there is a power outage or other emergency in your area. They own the infrastructure that delivers energy to homes and businesses and are responsible for ensuring that the electricity stays on at all times. They also handle billing and account management services.
Depending on your location, you can choose your provider. If you live in a deregulated market, you’ll find that many energy providers are competing for your business and offering deals on electricity rates that can be much lower than your local utility.
You’ll also find that some energy suppliers offer green pricing options for environmentally conscious consumers. These plans typically come with a small premium on your electricity bill but are an excellent way to support renewable energy sources.
Before selecting an energy supplier, it’s important to understand each contract’s different terms and conditions. You’ll want to ensure that you can afford your new provider and that their rates align with your budget. It’s also a good idea to ask about any promotions or incentives the supplier offers. These can include signing bonuses like free consumer electronics or enrollment in rewards programs. You’ll also want to know if your potential supplier offers a time-of-use rate structure that allows you to take advantage of cheaper electricity prices during off-peak hours.
