The population will continue to grow in the coming decades, and with that growth, the country may start to feel resource constraints. This also means that there will be a growing amount of electricity demand as this growth will increase the amount of electricity and technology in use with it. Recently, it has become clear that the grid will have to be maintained and upgraded to meet this demand.
California is already starting to do this. PGE is currently investing a large amount of money and resources in both renewable energy generation and in upgrading the grid management system. This has required the construction of new buildings, transmission wires, servers, and other associated grid components in preparation for the influx of energy generation and demand. This will form what is commonly known as a “smart grid.” Really, what that means is that more of the grid will be monitored and controlled directly by centralized computer systems controlled by knowledgeable grid engineers. Other states need to catch on to what California is doing, and they need to do this soon, no matter the cost. Otherwise things won’t be so great. We’ll all start calling the summer “rolling blackout season”
This will be something that your children will take part in. It will be a larger problem for their generation than ours. Hopefully many of these issues will be solved by the time our children reach adulthood, but it is not out of the question for grid stability to continue to be a challenge for the US and the rest of the world throughout the coming decades. For this reason, it is wise to educate your children concerning what they can do to help. Many of these problems require high-level engineering training to be truly solved. Helping your children learn skills that can serve as the backbone for a career in energy distribution or renewable energy can give them the leg up they need in life. CodeRev Kids is a great organization in California which does just that. They teach children as young as 6 years old to love the computer, the internet, and coding through the innovative classes on fun topics like robotics, game design, web site design, and even more advanced coding topics. With a technological introduction like this, your children will be primed for the intensive problems awaiting them.