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Tag Archives: Wind Power
Storage/Pricing — Chicken/Egg
On Tuesday, 2012 November 27, I attended the Heritage Foundation’s discussion of Jonathan Lesser’s 2012 October paper “Let Wind Compete: End the Production Tax Credit.” The only philosophical statement on which there seemed to be agreement was that improved storage … Continue reading
Posted in Electricity Economics
Tagged ACE, Area Control Error, Electricity, FERC, Field of Dreams, If you build it they will come, India, Markets, Pumped Storage, Storage, Wind Power
2 Comments
Electricity Pricing—Fair Trade vs. Free Trade—Which is High/Lower
When I got married in 2004, my wife introduced me to the term “Fair Trade” as in fair trade coffee, where coffee growers are paid a price that allows a “living wage” to be paid to the workers on the … Continue reading
Wind Boondoggles
Wind can fit into the electric grid. But all too often wind projects are boondoggles, government programs to concentrate the wealth of the nation into the hands of the politically connected, all too often with the cachet of Keynesian economics. Continue reading
Posted in Electricity Economics
Tagged Boondoggle, Cervantes, Don Quixote, Electricity, Greece, Greek, Keynes, Keynesian, Maryland, Off Shore, Robin Hood, Wind Power
56 Comments
Reporting the Effect of Wind on Consumer Costs—A Subtle Averch-Johnson Effect
Might the Averch-Johnson effect have led the Minnesota investor owned utilities to a decision to own wind generators instead of buying their output? Might the Averch-Johnson effect have led the investor owned utilities to choose an analytic method that showed tended to minimize the cost effect that wind has on rates, to the extent that the minimization led to numbers less than zero?
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Ramping–Wind Data from Kodiak, Alaska
A growing concern about renewable resources, such as wind and solar, is that they can ramp down and then back up in a few seconds. The requirement that electric utilities balance their sources and uses of electricity on a real … Continue reading
Posted in Ramping
Tagged Alaska, Electricity, Generation, Ramping, Renewable Energy, Renewable Power, Storage, Wind Power
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Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: What to Do When Wind Doesn’t Perform as Promised
Wind generation is unpredictable. Seldom is the production exactly equal to the specified rate. It reminds me of Goldilocks and the three bears, “Too hot, too cold, but seldom just right.” Most utility approach unscheduled flows of electricity by punishing the provider for any imbalance. “Heads the utility wins. Tails the generator looses.” A better approach uses the total imbalance on the utility to determine how imbalances are priced. Continue reading
Posted in Electricity Economics
Tagged Electricity, Generation, Markets, Renewable Energy, Renewable Power, Wind Power
7 Comments
Socializing The Grid: The Reincarnation of Vampire Wheeling
Deja Vu–Twenty years ago El Paso built a transmission line and sought revenue from Plains which had an existing, parallel lower voltage transmission line. Plains called the concept Vampire Wheeling and resisted the blood sucking proposal. Now large transmission owners are seeking to socialize the cost of new high voltage lines, forcing smaller entities to pay those costs, a grander version of Vampire Wheeling. We need to de-socialize the process by paying for those lines on a real time basis that reflects the cost and reliability benefits being concurrently provided Continue reading
Posted in Electricity Economics
Tagged Constraints, Electricity, ERCOT, MISO, Renewable Power, Socialization, Transmission, Vampire, Wheeling, Wind Power
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“Too Much of a Good Thing” Revisited
Spot electricity prices sometimes need to vary widely from the dispatch prices established by an ISO so that generators and consumers see an impact on the average charge. Continue reading
Posted in Electricity Economics
Tagged Dispatch, Electricity, ERCOT, Generation, Markets, Pricing, Renewable Energy, Renewable Power, Spot, Wind Power
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Getting the Smart Grid to Make Sense
The smart grid is coming. But to pay for the smart grid, we need dynamic pricing so consumers will change their behaviors alloiwng the grid operators to reduce their other costs. Sometimes those prices will be very high, but sometimes those prices will also be very low, even negative. Continue reading
Posted in Electricity Economics
Tagged Electric Vehicles, Electricity, ERCOT, Pricing, Smart Grid, Uniform electric rates, Wind Power
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Integrating Wind and Electric Vehicles
Storage enhances the integration of wind generation and the charging of electric vehicles. Dynamica pricing enables these three concepts to work together when they are independently owned. Continue reading
Posted in Electricity Economics
Tagged Electric Vehicles, Pricing, Renewable Power, Smart Grid, Wind Power
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