Reports from approximately one million residential power quality sensors in the continental United States indicate that power quality is degrading in areas near large data centers. this Bloomberg The special report shows that the worst distortions tend to occur within 50 miles of primary data centers, affecting nearly 3.7 million Americans. Poor power quality can shorten the life of your appliances, leading to malfunctions, overheating, and electrical fires.
The data behind this report was collected through Whisker Labs Ting devices, which monitor the overall electrical quality of your home and help prevent electrical fires. More than 1 million devices have been deployed across the country, and nearly 90% of U.S. homes have a Ting sensor installed within a half-mile radius. These sensors provide Whisker Labs with granular data that allows the company to understand the average power quality of consumers’ homes in specific areas.
“Harmonics are a very good canary in the coal mine, detecting early signs of stress and problems,” said Bob Marshall, CEO of Whisker Labs. Bloomberg compared poor harmonics, or power quality, to what you hear from speakers when they exceed their limits. of static. Hasala Dharmawardena, senior engineer at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, said it’s like trash in the middle of the road and affects all customers in the area, not just their immediate homes.
However, some electricity suppliers in affected areas disputed these claims. “ComEd strongly questions the accuracy and underlying assumptions of Whisker Lab’s statement,” John Schoen, a spokesman for Commonwealth Edison, said in an email to Bloomberg. “Ting devices are installed in homes and do not directly measure harmonics on the grid.” Commonwealth Edison is a utility company that provides electricity to the Chicago area.
Virginia power provider Dominion Energy also said it had not seen the distortion levels reported by Whisker Labs and claimed its measurements were in line with industry standards. While the company said there have been a few instances where higher-than-normal outages have occurred, these are usually caused by unusual configurations or teething issues with new devices. The company says these issues are usually resolved immediately.
Thankfully, Bloomberg says there is a simple solution to this problem, and some solutions are already being worked on. But in the meantime, power companies should study the data provided by Whisker Labs, especially if it is widely distributed. After all, problems occurring in hundreds of homes could be problems with the electrical infrastructure within those buildings. Still, if the problem affects millions of Americans, it could be a symptom of broader grid problems — one that must be addressed before it’s too late.