Michael Giberson Have you noticed images of wind turbines appearing in ads for everything from cars to banks to university programs? For many people, wind turbines have a kind of stately grace, a beauty, a high-tech glamour. In the Wall Street Journal, Virginia Postrel claimed that wind power (and high-speed rail) gets a public-policy boost from the …
Glamour and Policy – Virginia Postrel in the Wsj Read More »
Michael Giberson The Philadelphia Eagles have issued a “Declaration of Energy Independence,” and are inviting other sports franchises and businesses to join with them. What does that mean, you ask? They say they are embracing “environmental sustainability with great seriousness and conviction by powering Lincoln Financial Field with a combination of onsite wind, solar and …
Philadelphia Eagles Declare “Energy Independence,” Whatever That Means Read More »
Michael Giberson The ERCOT grid is about to switch fundamental market designs from its current zonal market to a nodal market. Here is a clip from an ERCOT document describing the change: For a more readable version, check out the full brochure, which is evailable from ERCOT’s website. ERCOT’s “Texas Nodal Market Implementation” …
The Ercot Market in Texas Readies for Change in Market Design Read More »
Michael Giberson You may have seen mention of the documentary Haynesville on this site a time or two, but you may not have had a chance to see it. If you have CNBC available, you will soon have a chance to see a one-hour “network cut” of the film. According to the announcement Haynesville Network Cut will …
Shale Gas Doc Haynesville to Air November 23 on Cnbc Read More »
Michael Giberson Last night CBS News show 60 Minutes ran a piece on shale gas development (video link, text link). The consensus among folks who have been following the issue is that while the story didn’t break new ground, it presumably raised the profile of the issue a bit. The Times-Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) story presents a good …
Reactions to the 60 Minutes Program “Shaleionaires” Read More »
Michael Giberson I’m sure I haven’t yet come to grips with the views expressed by commenters on my last post about economics and peak oil, but here is another paper on economics, Hubbert’s Peak, and peak oil. In short the authors model resource extraction scenarios in the manner that economists sometimes do, and conclude that …
Michael Giberson Texas Tech University’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering is seeking applicants for several positions related to electric power and energy systems more generally. Most interesting to our readers may be the new Whitacre Endowed Chair in Smart Grid Technologies position and a tenure track position in power and energy systems. Excepts from the job …
University Positions Available in Smart Grid, Power Systems, and More Read More »
Michael Giberson The National Geographic Daily News blog cites a new International Energy Agency report that pins 2006 as the year in which oil production rates attained a pace that will not be again matched. Or, in other words, 2006 was the year of “Peak Oil.” That projection is just one scenario of several looked …
The Problem with “Peak Oil” from an Economist’s Point of View Read More »
Michael Giberson Below are charts showing data on ERCOT West zone power prices for the 2009 and for 2010 January-September with a focus on negative prices. The charts were derived from data provided through the ERCOT website, on their “Balancing Energy Services Market Clearing Prices for Energy Annual Report” page. These charts were prepared in the …
Negative Power Prices in Ercot West: 2009 and 2010 Through September Read More »
Michael Giberson ERCOT recently set a new record for consecutive pricing intervals below $0/MWh for balancing energy market prices in the ERCOT West region: 39.25 hours of negative prices. The episode started at 7:45 PM on Saturday, November 6 and the negative prices continued until 11:00 AM on Monday, November 8. The previous record …
Top 10 Longest Periods with Consecutive Negative Power Prices, Ercot West Read More »
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