Re: US "average" loss is indeed lesss?
Author: BNSF Rail Guy
Date: 06-04-2014 - 05:56
I worked as a contractor for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Southern California Edison, Tri-State EGT and others. Loss rates are a direct result of distance and transmission voltage. Even the longest LAWDP transmission (700+ miles), Intermountain Power Plant in Central Utah to Los Angeles was about 21-22 percent when electricity was transmitted at 500 kilovolts (kV) AC. When LADWP switched to a DC current system, it dropped to around 5 percent.
The extreme cost of installing buried, supercooled transmission lines make it a non-starter. The best idea on the table to it construct a "express" network of 765kV transmission lines. Higher voltages maybe justified in the future, remember a tripling of voltage decreases lost rates by nine times.