Off Peak

Fortnightly Magazine - March 15 1998
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THE COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE, A FREE market think tank, announced its entry into the electric power market and demanded that utilities open up the power grid to its services.

Says CEI Fellow in Regulatory Studies Wayne Crews: "The pervasive thinking among so-called reformers is that just because somebody spins magnets, they have a right of access to utility wires property. Well, we're tired of fighting that idea. We want in on some of the money."

CEI Digital Electric Co.'s first generation plant, as illustrated here, is a 2-volt generator with an overall customer capacity of 0.025 amp, served by a 60.9m, #30 AWG transmission wire. Four rotating 1 3 2 3 5cm ceramic magnets generate current from the "facility."

Report - Grid Investment for Medium & Heavy Duty EVs

Start-up costs totalled $7.91. That's right, seven dollars, ninety-one cents.

Considerable cost savings over conventional generation are expected given the unique digitally powered architecture, however Crews conceded: "My fingers are blistered from spinning the thing. And I miss my family."

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