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There is no PRC meeting this week because of the Thanksgiving Thursday holiday.
Some observations:
Historically, electric power is produced to meet demand, which
varies, of course, so generating systems had to be flexible to
meet a varying demand which is inefficient and thus expensive to
operate. Considering that demand varies by time of day, with late
afternoon being peak, and late night times the trough, there is
very large waste of capacity under the older coal fired electric
generating systems. In part, historically, electricity could not
be stored efficiently.
Renewable generation, with battery back up, means that cost of power is likely to decline and generation of power will be more efficient and less expensive. The needed battery back up system which should be not just hours of potential electric power, but several days of power, is under development and expected in two to three years. Thus, when the wind blows at night, but there is no demand for electricity, the power can be stored and used the next day, or in two or three days, or sold to another utility.
As I shared last week, members of the Santa Fe Institute are helping the NM PRC so it might make better decisions regarding the electric utilities in New Mexico. Here is a summary of one of the papers of the a researcher:
society is facing unprecedented challenges in meeting rising demands for affordable, reliable and high-quality energy consistent with social environmental goals. engineering future energy conversion and delivery systems will require a new way of thinking about networks and infrastructures, in addition to new energy sources. Dr. blumsack's work in this area focuses on the integration of emerging energy technologies into existing systems, and how the "smart grid" can help enable both engineering and economic transformations. with colleagues from engineering, economics, computer science, architecture and environmental science, he is working on the integration of utility-scale wind and solar systems into electric power grids; modeling the impacts of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles; small-scale distributed electricity and "micro-grids;" and cyber-security and risk analysis for the "smart grid." Dr. blumsack is also developing online and resident courses with funding from the u.s. department of energy to support workforce training and development for the smart grid and the wind energy industry.
I have written to Dr. Blumsack and as I learn more, I will share. As he teaches at Penn State, our contacts, if any, will be virtual.
Have a great Thanksgiving,
George Richmond
-- George M. Richmond 152 Juniper Hill Road, NE Albuquerque, NM 87122-1913 C: 505-280-2105 E: geomrich1@comcast.net