– 2003
n
n
It can get cold in Fairbanks, Alaska. Real cold!
n
Because a power failure can be so dangerous in an isolated city that experiences extreme weather, Fairbanks ordered a 2,000-square-meter battery that weighs 1,300 metric tonnes. (In U.S. terms, that is more than 21 thousand square feet and more than 1,400 tons.)
n
On this day in 2003 the city of Fairbanks installed the huge battery in a warehouse outside of town and then plugged it in to the city’s electrical system. In the case of a power failure, the battery should kick on and provide power for up to 12,000 residents for up to seven minutes—long enough to start up diesel generators to restore power.
n
In Fairbanks’s low winter temperatures, water pipes could freeze entirely in just two hours. So it is crucial to keep the power on! But when I checked Wikipedia to see how many people live in Fairbanks, it listed 35,000 residents, not 12,000! Who gets the emergency power?
n