Electricity

Solar Makes Financial Sense in Austin, if You Are Subsidized…

7 Comments / Electricity, Energy markets, Regulation / By

Michael Giberson Geoff Styles (“Can Solar Compete?“) observes two reports from MIT’s Technology Review: one from August 2009 that says cost reductions achieved in the solar power industry “have made solar power cheaper than the natural-gas-powered plants used to produce extra electricity to meet demand on hot summer days,” and another from the September/October 2009 …

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Don’t Worry, the City Council Will Plusgood Monitor Big Brother to Prevent Abuse

6 Comments / Electricity, Language, Politics / By

Michael Giberson So I was quietly reading about Austin, Texas electric power developments in the Austin American-Statesman (“Mueller becoming a lab for energy: Research plans, neighbors’ efforts converging“) when I stumbled across a remark of such – I don’t know what to call it – irony? Orwellian newspeak? Not quite sure what to say, so …

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State Legislatures and Pucs Prefer High Annual Electricity Bills for Retail Customers

Electricity, Energy markets / By

Michael Giberson According to a new paper by Jim Bushnell, Ben Hobbs and Frank Wolak, “the desire of [state] legislatures and state PUCs to protect consumers from wholesale price volatility comes at a cost we believe few consumers would be willing to pay if it were made explicit, higher annual electricity bills.” And it isn’t …

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You Heard It Here First, but Others Are Catching On: Social Media and Electricity Information

1 Comment / Economics, Electricity, Technology / By

Lynne Kiesling Remember back in October 2008 when I wrote about Andy Stanford-Clark and his tweeting house? And in July 2009 when I wrote about the German company Yellow Strom and its applications to enable its customers to use Twitter and Google’s Power Meter to increase their electricity information and manage their consumption? Now, via …

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Give It Away Now: Wind Power and the Price of Electricity

1 Comment / Electricity / By

Michael Giberson Forbes recently ran a story by Jonathon Farey, “Wind Power’s Weird Effect,” about how sometimes high wind power output and limited transmission capability combine to produce wholesale power prices dropping to zero or below.  (Of course regular readers here have been aware of the issue at least since last November.) Much more informative …

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Appliance Sales to Get ‘cash for Clunkers’ Boost?

1 Comment / Electricity, Environmental policy, Politics / By

Michael Giberson In the news, reports of a “cash for clunkers” program for major appliances: USA Today: Appliances get their own recycled clunkers programs; Business Week:  Latest in Stimulus: ‘Cash for Refrigerators’; Associated Press: Meltdown 101: Government cash for green appliances. From Business Week: Beginning late this fall, the program authorizes rebates of $50 to …

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Will V2g Prove Profitable to Phev Owners?

3 Comments / Electricity, Energy markets / By

Michael Giberson When I read someone suggesting that “vehicle-to-grid” (V2G) operations will make money for owners of plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV), I wonder how carefully they’ve thought through all the implications.*  The analyst might assume a particular battery technology and characteristics, for example, and then run a simulation against market data to see how much …

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Volatile Prices Decrease Consumer Satisfaction with Texas Competitive Retail Suppliers

Electricity, Regulation / By

Michael Giberson From a press release by J.D. Power and Associates: Wide fluctuations in electricity prices during the past year have led to a decrease in overall customer satisfaction with residential retail electric providers in Texas, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Texas Residential Retail Electric Provider Customer Satisfaction Study released today. The study, …

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Don’t Follow the Swedish Health Care Model; Follow the Swedish Retail Electricity Model

2 Comments / Electricity, Regulation / By

Lynne Kiesling I am enjoying my Stockholm visit very much, despite the sticker shock while shopping and dining. The discussions at the Mont Pelerin Society meeting are interesting and thought-provoking, including quite a bit of discussion of the incentive problems, and the moral/ethical problems, of the “Swedish welfare state” model. The Swedish model of health …

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A Customer’s View of National Grid’s Smart Meter Roll out

4 Comments / Electricity, Regulation / By

Michael Giberson From the Wind Power Law Blog in New York, Clifford Rohde takes a break from wind power law to report on his shift to National Grid’s time-of-use rates, a move that required the utility to install a “smart meter.” (He chronicled the first part of this effort in April, shortly after mailing in …

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