A Soul's Like Electricity (Ray Charles)
Our February 3 newsletter quoted David Bowie, Boz Skaggs, Ray Charles, Laurie Anderson, Dolly Parton, Damian Marley and Jimi Hendrix about electricity. Readers sent lyrics from many more songs.
How much do combined cycle natural gas plants really need to be paid?
One has to decide if a CCGT is a pure energy resource paid off through maximum sales of its electricity, or a flexible resource that holds back on production to support the grid.
There appears to be confusion on the amount of generation produced by CCGTs and types of services they can offer.
March Birthdays: Kirchhoff to Kaiulani
Gustav Kirchhoff, Albert Einstein, Reddy Kilowatt, George Ohm, Robert Millikan, and the light bulb patent.
Gustav Kirchhoff, who you can blame for the miserable complexity of electrical transmission and distribution systems, was born on March 12, 1824. Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879. And others ...
Fate of Conservation Mandates
Many states allow private opt-outs, but Florida bucks the trend.
Should regulators allow customers opt-out, on the theory they know best? Or should all customers be made to participate?
The Long and Short of Grid Congestion
FTRs make hedging possible, but can PJM ensure full funding without playing favorites?
Financial traders believe PJM’s proposal discriminates since they are more likely to hold counter-flow FTRs.
Musk and Me
I signed up for a free quote on line.
With all the talk of the “existential threat” to traditional utilities from solar and other disruptive technologies (and the blowback against net metering in various states), I thought I’d check out SolarCity first hand.
Technological Innovation and Public Policy-Making
The new grid will be driven by opportunities for electric utilities and customers to monetize their economic opportunities.
Policy-maker’s perspective: It's important to permit utilities to become more efficient and develop alternative revenue streams.
Schneiderman Targets Peabody Energy
Shareholder Protection or War on Coal?
Why did Schneiderman sue Peabody? Because Peabody is America’s biggest coal company. He also likely wanted to establish a precedent before launching a Martin Act investigation of even bigger game: ExxonMobil.
New Regulatory Paradigm Needed Now
The time is now for establishing concrete rules, roles and responsibilities for utilities and other participants.
Driven by policy directives over which utilities have little control, DERs will remain both a threat and opportunity until regulators agree on a new paradigm to support distributed energy resources.
Improving Performance in Publicly Owned Utilities
Consistently setting, measuring, and updating quantitative performance metrics should be a central feature of any program.
Modern performance-management practices can – and should – be applied to public and private utilities alike.