[Lwvcnmtopics] Electric Power Comments

[George Richmond]

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 at comcast.net



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