Deck:
FERC's California plan needs pressing, to fix blatant gaffes on NO<sub>x</sub>, demand bids, and megawatt laundering.
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Frontlines
Taken to the Cleaners
FERC's California plan needs pressing, to fix blatant gaffes on NOx, demand bids, and megawatt laundering.
You're a federal utility regulator. You want to place a ceiling on electricity prices paid to power producers in California, but you don't want to impose those evil price caps. No sir.
So you set a proxy price for a hypothetical competitive market, based on what you think are reasonable costs for operating a typical power plant, like thermal efficiency (plant heat rate) and buying natural gas for fuel. Then add $2 for miscellaneous operating and maintenance expense. That should do it.
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