Transmission

Wind Power, Grid Mismatch Costly To Investors

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Wind farm investors face growing losses from “curtailments,” as turbine installations outstrip the capacity of local transmission systems to accommodate the new power.

The issue is a “growing pain” of wind technology, Judah Rose, Senior Vice President, ICF International in McLean, VA, said. Curtailment has become an increasing problem since 2008 as wind capacity nationwide increases from almost nothing 10 years ago to more than 42,000 megawatts now. “It’s occurring even in RTOs (regional transmission organizations) with advanced pricing and management systems,” Rose said. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 27, 2011 at 10:30 AM

We’re headed for what could be a California power crisis on a national scale says Napolitano at #platts conf

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“We’re headed for what could be a California power crisis on a national scale” says Napolitano at #platts conf @petergardett

 /  Published October 27, 2011 at 10:00 AM

Bringing Transparency To Transmission Planning

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The average US customer is paying only 7% of their electricity bill to cover transmission investment, John Jimison of the Energy Future Coalition told Breaking Energy in this video from the US Association for Energy Economics Conference in Washington, DC.

As regulators move to address a “decades-long under-investment in transmission,” a number of incumbent utilities are opposing the approach the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has taken in one of its most recent orders, widely known as FERC 1000. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 21, 2011 at 9:00 AM

One Billion Megawatt Hours

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Financial innovation and energy trading have regularly gone hand-in-hand, as utilities and other firms constantly seek to hedge their exposure to price volatility or take bets on the perennially volatile energy business.

Open interest, or the number of positions open in existing contracts, hit the landmark one billion megawatt-hours level on the CME Group’s trading platforms this week. CME Group owns NYMEX, a formerly independent exchange that hosts trading in the benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil contract. The firm has made a concerted push in building out its energy business across a range of financial products, from floor-traded futures contracts to options and other products across a range of energy commodities. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 19, 2011 at 6:00 AM

DOE-FERC Grid Coordination Effort ‘Positive,’ States Say

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DOE-FERC Grid Coordination Effort Positive, States Say http://bit.ly/pSLVMJ @NARUC

 /  Published October 12, 2011 at 9:45 AM

AOL Energy Week In Review

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The fall season is in full swing in the energy industry with only a few mishaps to darken the mood.

To usher in a new academic year, Breaking Energy is highlighting some of the Top Fives across the industry, from law firms and regulators to unique project financing and innovative technologies.
Each day, a gallery will feature one new category. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 16, 2011 at 3:20 PM

Inside GridWeek: Smart Grid Needs To Find Its Cool

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Smart grid growth is all about customer acceptance, and the industry could sure use an iMeter.

Those were central themes at this year’s GridWeek conference, which brought 1,000 vendors, regulators, utility officials and lawmakers to Washington, DC from around the US and from overseas Sept. 12-15. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 16, 2011 at 6:00 AM

Could A Self-Healing Smart Grid Have Prevented The SDG&E Blackout?

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What if? What if mechanical failure at a single point would automatically and instantaneously communicate to nearby nodes that a shutdown was necessary to prevent a truly widespread blackout?

If that were possible, power outages like the September 8, 15-hour blackout that affected an estimated 5 million customers, from southern California and Arizona to northern Mexico, and which may have incurred as much as $100 million in economic costs, would be completely avoidable. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 15, 2011 at 6:00 AM

We Are Not In Kansas Anymore

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We just ended a month during which our nation observed the 8th anniversary of the August 2003 Blackout (more than 50 million consumers affected and more than $6 billions in losses), the 6th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina (more than 1800 deaths and over $150 billions in economic losses), and the Aug. 1, 2007 collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis (killing 13 and disrupting traffic and the local economy for a year) – that is in addition to the hundreds of black-outs, water main breaks and daily traffic gridlocks.

These events have stimulated growing public awareness of the necessity for accelerated programs of replacement, rehabilitation and new investment in the US infrastructure. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 14, 2011 at 9:45 AM

DATC Moves Ahead With New Power Lines

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With debate on cost allocation for building new transmission lines still heated in Washington DC and FERC 1000 still pending, Duke American Transmission Company (DATC) made its own decision.

On Monday, the company–a joint venture between Duke Energy and American Transmission Company–announced it would be building $4 billion worth of new transmission lines in seven distinct projects across Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. The projects, each spanning anywhere from 65 to 696 miles, would be a combination of both 345-kilovolt lines and 500-kilovolt high-voltage direct-current lines. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 14, 2011 at 6:00 AM
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