Here in Alaska, our power transmission system is relatively simple. Most areas are not highly populated and most all of our electric lines are run from pole to pole in a very basic system. In more densely populated areas in the Lower 48 the power transmission systems are a bit more complicated. The added complication also adds to the probability of power outages or blackouts. We are all probably familiar with the blackouts that occurred in California and on the East Coast several years back.
Professor Newman's research into power transmission systems is not based on preventing these outages entirely, as that is like trying to count to infinity (not a realistic possibility). His research is based on trying to understand the risks involved in these complex transmission systems and to minimize the risks that lead to system outages and/or failures.
Where one would think that the ultimate goal in designing these systems would be to make the system as perfect as possible, that is not the case. Prof. Newman and his research colleagues instead study the affect of freqeunt, minor failures of the system as opposed to rare, major failures. The way they think about it is in terms of how to design the system to keep it the most operable realistically, making sure that the system is tended to frequently enough to avoid major outages. When a system is designed perfectly, people grow dependent on it to keep working, and because it does, they don't pay much attention until something goes majorly wrong. If the system has more frequent blips, people will pay more attention to it and thereby create a more reliable system based one the increased amount of minor failures. Basically, people will maintain a system better if it gets their attention more often.
Introduction Why Physics? Teaching Research Topics
Nuclear Fusion Turbulence Human Behavior