Posted on 03/29/2004 2:56:29 PM PST by Robert357
Old proverb: "The more things change... the more they stay the same!"
Oh REALLY? Just who would be so bold as to INVEST in such a foolhardy venture??? (with the activists litigants and lousy legislature we have)
I sure hope nobody's playin grabass while Rome's lights are burning out!!!
Actually, the small ones are where it's at now. Distributed biomass is also a good idea.
It sounds like a fancy RTG (radioisotope thermal generator) like the SNAP series we built and tested in the 1960s. Notice how the power level is not stated.
Usually a few kilowatts. I am talking about economies of SCALE, which require a minimum of 500 MEGA watts.
The small ones are definitely not where it's at now--the laws of physics and economics being what they are.
--Boris
If nuclear plants had to pay for the insurance for the risks they induce, these small plants would be a slam dunk.
A kW is a unit of power. Power is charged by the kW-hour, not by the kW.
--Boris
Did joule really have to make that big a deal out of a typo?
Watt did you call me?
Thank you, for your heated rejoinder.
Using two posts to attack a typo while ignoring the economic argument, is worse.
A reserve problem is potentially serious and has implications for this summer.
Based on what todays WECC Daily Report said:
Yesterday/Weekend/Holiday Notable Events:
At 1124 PST on Monday March 29, 2004 the CAISO declared a Restricted Maintenance Operation due to higher than anticipated temperatures and load.
At 1224 the CAISO issued a System Warning due to the high temperatures and load and a loss of resources south of Path 15.
At 1350 the CAISO declared a Stage 1 emergency due to an imminent deficiency in Operating Reserves.
At 2000 the CAISO terminated the Stage 1 emergency, System Warning and Restricted Maintenance Operation.
Stage 2 emergency was not reached and no load was interrupted.
Now what happened according to T&D Magazine:
http://tdworld.com/news/California-power-emergency/
Cal-ISO Declares Stage 1 Emergency; SCE Joins Appeal for Conservation as State Power Reserves Fall Below 7%
Mar 30, 2004 3:17 PM
Southern California Edison
With state power reserves falling below 7% and the region coping with unusually high temperatures for early spring, the California Independent System Operator (Cal-ISO) and Southern California Edison yesterday urged customers to reduce electricity use to reduce their consumption of electricity.
This urgent conservation appeal followed a Stage 1 Emergency declaration by Cal-ISO, the nonprofit agency that manages most of California's transmission power grid and secures power supplies for most of the state's consumers.
A Stage 1 Emergency is declared whenever the state's power reserves fall below 7%. Yesterday's declaration, in effect from 1:50 p.m. to 8 p.m., was made because of soaring demand for electricity during a sweltering heat wave and the loss of some power plant generation in California.
SCE encouraged all consumers and businesses to reduce their power use at this time by keeping their air conditioning thermostats set no lower than 78 degrees, reducing office lighting, and using nonessential business equipment and home appliances (e.g., clothes washers/dryers, and dishwashers) in the morning or evening when demand for power is lower.
The Socialista-EnviroWeirdos have deliberately created this shortage in the strongly extreme belief that America in general and CA in particular has too much "cheap" water and power/energy and that their mission is to put a stop to it!!!
When it's so cheap, they can't possibly "control the means of production!!!" This is what they have LIVED FOR and LONGED FOR, ever since the first "Earth Day!" They will torment anyone and everyone until they create what they delite in... A CRISIS IN CONFIDENCE IN AMERICA'S TRADITIONS!!!
It's what their Commonista Professors have taught them! They are causing us all to "reap the whirlwind!" (now that REALLY sucks)
I also just saw an interesting article in the Oakland Trib.
http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82%7E10834%7E2050789,00.html
Power officials show concern
By Alan Zibel, BUSINESS WRITER
With temperatures rising to more than 90 degrees in Southern California and a spate of power plant outages hitting that part of the state, power officials Monday issued the first electricity emergency of the year.
Still, experts have not predicted any major power problems for this summer, but have said the state could face a power shortage as early as 2006.
"I don't think that this is necessarily an omen about this summer," said Gregg Fishman, spokesman for the California Independent System Operator, which runs most of the state's power grid. "But it certainly should be at least a little bit of a message ... that we're still not fat and happy."
Power grid officials called a Stage One emergency at 1:50 p.m. Monday. That kind of alert -- the least severe of three stages -- was issued because the state's reserve supply of power dipped below 7 percent. Issuing the alert gave state power grid officials increased control over owners of power plants and transmission lines.
Power grid officials lifted the Stage One emergency at 7:59 p.m. The problem was expected to ease today, with forecasts calling for temperatures to cool off and scattered showers in Northern California.
Power officials blamed the Stage One emergency, the first since May 28 of last year, on temperatures that were 10 degrees higher than forecast in Southern California, causing statewide demand to rise about 1,100 megawatts higher than forecast -- enough to supply about 825,000 homes.
They also said 770 megawatts of power supplies -- enough for about 575,000 homes -- dropped out of service Monday morning in Southern California. No problems were reported in Northern California.
Power authorities called on the public to conserve energy by avoiding the use of heavy electrical appliances between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. and setting thermostats at 78 degrees or more.
Power emergencies and calls to conserve energy became a routine part of Californians' lives during the state's energy crisis three years ago.
The state's power situation has improved since then, with prices stabilizing and new power plants alleviating shortages.
Perhaps God needs to clean house.
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