Electricity

Negative Power Prices in Ercot West: 2009 and 2010 Through September

Electricity, Energy markets / By

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 …

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Top 10 Longest Periods with Consecutive Negative Power Prices, Ercot West

1 Comment / Electricity, Energy markets / By

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 …

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Speaking of Smoke: Oregon’s Only Coal Power Plant May Convert to Biomass, but Plan Has Many Unknowns

1 Comment / Electricity, Energy markets, Environmental policy / By

Michael Giberson The High Country News reports that Portland General Electric is considering shutting down its Boardman, OR, coal-fired power plant, with costs of Clean Air Act compliance cited as the cause.  However, another option under consideration is conversion of the plant to biomass, more specifically converted to use a torrefied Asian cane that would …

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Smoke Filled Rooms, Solar Power, and the Long Shadow of Grid Parity

Economics, Electricity / By

Michael Giberson An rambling complaint surfaced at TriplePundit.com (slogan: people, planet, profit.) linking a “number of articles questioning the economic viability of solar power [which] recently hit the streets” to “a new, well-oiled regime coming to power in Washington.” We could stop right here to consider that articles questioning the economic viability of solar power …

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A Reporter with an In-home Energy Monitor and a Blog

1 Comment / Electricity, Energy markets / By

Michael Giberson After months of paying a ‘smart meter’ surcharge on his power bill, Houston Chronicle energy reporter Tom Fowler finally had a smart meter installed by CenterPoint Energy several weeks back and more recently an in-home energy monitor. He’s blogging the revolution: Never mind tomorrow, what can a smart meter do today? My smart meter …

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National Renewable Power Standards? Still Not Practical

1 Comment / Electricity, Energy markets, Environmental policy, Politics / By

Michael Giberson Some news reports are suggesting the U.S. is now less likely to pass climate change legislation, but prospects for policies boosting renewable power may have improved slightly. Ever more timely, then, is this 2008 analysis of proposed national renewable portfolio standards by Jay Apt, Lester Lave, and Sompop Pattanariyankool: “A national renewable portfolio …

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Property Owners Seek Wind Turbines but Fight Transmission Lines

1 Comment / Electricity, Regulation / By

Michael Giberson Jonathan Fahey observes that there seems to be little trouble finding Montana property owners willing to have wind turbines built on their property, but property owners usually fight against construction of power lines. Puzzling, right?, since wind turbines are large, moving and obtrusive, while transmission lines are not-as-big and immobile and generally somewhat …

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