The old debate about the possibility of reducing the peak power demand that electric utilities have to meet by lowering the system voltage level by a few percent (know as a "brownout") has been rekindled by the incidence of rolling blackouts in response to overloaded transmission and distribution systems. The state of California is considering this approach, now called conservation voltage reduction (CVR), which rests on the undisputed fact that constant-resistance loads - such as incandescent lighting - draw power proportional to the square of the supply voltage. It would appear that a systematic reduction of a few percent could significantly reduce the peak demand, reducing the possibility of overloads. Such overloads might otherwise make it necessary to arbitrarily cut-off the supply to some sections of the distribution system to avoid a collapse of the complete system.
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