American wind: Power to the Future

  • Tanya Glynn
  • George Pearton

In 2011, disaster struck the Tennessee Valley as one of the worst tornado outbreaks ever recorded caused widespread power outages. The source of the power loss was not the destruction of generation plants, but rather the obliteration of the vast network that transports energy across the valley. More than 300 power transmission towers – supporting around 100 transmission lines – were destroyed by the storm.