http://knowledgeproblem.com/2010/01/13/texas-and-the-tres-amigas-interconnection/ Commentary on Economics, Information and Human Action Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:58:33 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://knowledgeproblem.com/2010/01/13/texas-and-the-tres-amigas-interconnection/#comment-10706 Wed, 13 Jan 2010 13:52:29 +0000 http://knowledgeproblem.com/?p=6228#comment-10706 Delivery of electric energy is not delivery of electrons. Electrons don’t flow freely through AC transformers (autotransformers notwithstanding), either, but that’s hardly important in a commercial or regulatory sense, is it? That said, electrons barely move in AC transmission of electric energy, whereas they do actually flow in DC transmission. [Does anybody care that they flow backward?] To further confuse the issue, electric energy flow in balanced 3-phase AC transmission at zero power factor is constant, every bit as constant as DC flow. The distinction comes mainly in the controllability of the DC link, which prevents “loop” and/or inadvertent flows that would not generally be part of the commercial transactions across a link if it were AC. I can’t really see why DC rather than AC creates a jurisdictional wall that precludes interstate commerce, when it enables transactions moving a product (energy, not electrons) across state lines.

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