Soul of the Grid: A Cultural Biography of the California Independent System Operator

"I felt like we had failed," said director of grid operations Jim Detmers in a pained voice. "In my mind, I pictured people stranded in elevators. I pictured people stranded in stores and checkout lines. All I could think of was the Inconvenience, and I'm sitting here thinking thinking, what rock did we not look under to maybe prevent this?"

As the focal point of an unprecedented power crisis that has tarnished the Golden State, the California Independent System Operator (California ISO) ca...