Bush favors delay in FERC proposal on power grid management

Associated Press ^ | 08-17-03

[Brian S]

The Bush administration supports a three-year delay in a controversial proposal that its supporters claim would make it easier to run the nation's electrical system, the president's top energy adviser said Sunday.

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said the proposal would "force down the throats" a federal policy of deregulation that states with cheap power oppose.

[Brian S]

Hang on tight to your wallets ladies and gents...

[Libertarianize the GOP]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[ASOC]

"force down the throats" a federal policy

Not your wallets you should hold onto......

[neb52]

Man if this doesn't smack of Socialism/communism I don't know what does. Deregulating a industry is great, but the Central Government making the decisions and doing all the planning. What next, they will send out fines for people that go past their alottment of electricity.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Deregulating a industry is great, but the Central Government making the decisions and doing all the planning.

What sense did it make, all the way back in the1930s, for the Central Government to be able to regulate a farm within a single state?

It only took a generation for the Seventeenth Amendment to destroy federalism.

[snopercod]

It only took a generation for the Seventeenth Amendment to destroy federalism.

I agree. Do you think a repeal is even possible?

[snopercod]

I would like to see the tariffs on interstate transmission lines rise to the point where it would force states like California and New York build their own power plants rather than import electricity from the midwest or southwest.

That way, companies would be able to make some money building transmission lines for the states that choose to be dependent upon others for their needs, and low-cost energy areas would be protected from having all their power sold off to far-away places.

This is a real concern, when you look at what happened to the Pacific Northwest over the last few years. They sold off all their power to California and left local users twisting in the wind. All the aluminum plants shut down and Boeing is not far behind.

They don't call them tariffs for nothing...

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment is probably not gonna happen. I could conceive of getting an amendment to make the senator the runningmate of the governor--or even the governor himself, after his term in office--but not a system in which the senator is not directly elected.

And I don't know what it would take to make the sheeple think that even that was a good idea . . .

[snopercod]

And I don't know what it would take to make the sheeple think that even that was a good idea . . .

Me either. It took me 50 years to understand the concepts. It would be a worthy battle, though.

[Lessismore]

I think that the AC grids should be broken down into smaller regional units. These should be connected by a new network of DC transmission lines for transfer of power between the regional grids. Tarrifs should reflect costs. All nuclear plants should be nationalized and operated by a single operator so that training, supervision, and maintenance could be controlled at a high, uniform standard. Nuclear plant construction should be restarted, using newer and safer designs.

[snopercod]

Like you, I am very skeptical of federal programs designed to "help us". The Interstate Commerce clause has gotten a severely tarnished name after being abused by a long line of opportunist legislatures.

But what we have here is a real case of interstate commerce...which places is clearly in the federal realm.

As you have probably noticed, Ohio is the chosen state to get the blame for New York's piggy energy demands which overloaded the Midwesterner's ability to supply their habit. New York (like California) doesn't want to build any power plants (they are sooooo... unsightly, you know), so they import a good fraction of their electricity from flyover country. How rude of the hicks out there to not build enough transmission lines to supply our needs... "My God, our cellphones went off and everything!"

So are the taxpayers of Ohio supposed to foot the bill to beef up their grid for the convenience of New Yorkers? Some in our government would like that. That concept is clearly what is behind Hillary, Richardson, and all the other usual suspects coming out in support of increased federal oversight.

What they really want is increased subsidies by the rural (read: Republican) areas of the nation in support of the urban (read: DemocRAT) areas. It's that simple.

Like Ellen RATner said on Fox, "Follow the money". OK I took her advice, and didn't find an Enron or Halliburton at the end of that road, I found a greedy welfare state looking for more victims.

[snopercod]

All nuclear plants should be nationalized...

So you believe in theft and slavery? What the h*ll are you doing on this forum?

[INSENSITIVE GUY]

I just wish somebody would tell that da*n news media the power is back on.Time for other news,move on.

[herkbird]

What is the reasoning for a new network of "DC" transmission lines? Isn't there a much greater loss of power over transmission lines using DC versus AC? That is the reason transmission lines use AC instead of DC in what I have read, is that correct or not?

Is there some new technology that gives DC the advantage over AC in transmission lines now? I would very much like to hear your reasoning for going DC instead of AC. Any reasons for going to DC transmission lines over AC would be highly appreciated, TIA.

[Lessismore]

There is less loss in DC lines. Since the voltage is constant, and not varying, a line with a given peak voltage can carry more power for the same amperage. Also, since the current is constant, the flow is uniform throughout the conductors, and there is no "skin effect" of higher current and greater heating on the surface of the conductors.

AC was preferred over DC in the past because it was easy to change voltages with transformers. However, there are now solid state convertors to go from AC to DC and back that do the job efficiently.

It is easier to ensure stability between the grids with DC, since you don't have to synchronize phase and frequency between the grids. With AC when you join two grids, you are coupling the mechanical dynamic behaviour of all the big rotating machines of both grids through the electrical interconnection.

[joanie-f]

What they really want is increased subsidies by the rural (read: Republican) areas of the nation in support of the urban (read: DemocRAT) areas.

Like Ellen RATner said on Fox, "Follow the money". OK I took her advice, and didn't find an Enron or Halliburton at the end of that road, I found a greedy welfare state looking for more victims.

You said it all, John.