4h. United States High Voltage Electrical Grid
In the United States, a network of power plants, transmission lines, and distribution centers make up the electrical grid. The grid functions to balance the supply and demand of electricity from homes, businesses, and industries. The reliability and security of the grid is monitored by a not-for-profit regulatory authority: North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC).
The electrical grid is divided into three major regions:
- • The Eastern Interconnection
- • The Western Interconnection
- • The Texas Interconnected System
The three major regions function largely independently of each other and have limited transmission between one another. The map shows transmission lines carrying 345kV or more throughout the United States. As you can see from the map, there are very few connections between the eastern and western interconnections.