Cal ISO, PJM, ERCOT
Steve Mitnick has authored five books on the economics, history, and people of the utilities industries. While in the consulting practice leadership of McKinsey & Co. and Marsh & McLennan, he advised utility leaders. He led a transmission development company and was a New York Governor’s chief energy advisor. Mitnick was an expert witness appearing before utility regulatory commissions of six states, D.C., FERC, and in Canada, and taught microeconomics, macroeconomics, and statistics at Georgetown University.
The regional power grids are changing rapidly and facing unprecedented challenges. Here’s a look at one day, a month ago, the fifteenth of May, a Wednesday, illustrating interesting dynamics in three regions, those of the California ISO, PJM in the mid-Atlantic, and ERCOT in Texas. Download the graphs here.
Cal ISO, as is shown in the downloadable graph, regularly encounters a swift decline in solar generation in the late afternoon necessitating a swift rise in a mix of non-solar generation to compensate.
PJM, as is shown in the downloadable graph, depends quite heavily on natural gas generation far more than coal generation, a reversal of the situation not long ago.
ERCOT, as is shown in the downloadable graph, experiences that same swift decline in solar generation in the late afternoon, precipitating a dramatic increase in natural gas generation especially to compensate.
