Electric Power Plant News

There are no off peak rates offered here. No electric dryer, AC, furnace, or any other super modern needless gadgets but I do have an electric water heater. Im not sure I'd call the curly bulbs junk. The light isnt as good but they use 13W vs 60W and they are cheap. Its the cost of the LED and the recovery time on that cost that will slow down their use. Im sure their cost will go down in a couple years like most electric things do, except it seems solar panels.

"Getting back to the actual price of solar modules today — the topic of this story, after all — Jenny just sent me this update: “We have pegged the typical factory-gate module price at the end of 2017 at about 33 cents per W, meaning a price around 37 cents per W in most markets. About 98GW was installed in 2017.”"

Down from over $100 per W to $0.37 in 2017 seems like they fell off a cliff.

Could be down to $0.21 by 2040..

Thats why all the utilities are buying as many as possible for their generation

and batteries to store that electric..

https://cleantechnica.com/2018/02/11/solar-panel- ... exclusive/

BigBarney

Or they could be buying the green power because they have too, to meet state laws that are in affect to promote green power. By that I mean a certain percentage of power sold has to have been created green in at least some states, similar to ethanol and bio-diesel requirements.

Would you pay double to get your electric energy from another

source if they can supply it to you for half price ??

Utilities buy power under contracts at a set price for what they

need and if demand is more they buy from producers that have

available capacity at a premium price.

Many are now putting in batteries to supply this demand from

power produced in low use times of day.

On pjm.com you can see the use of different distributors of power

24/7/365 .

http://datasnapshot.pjm.com/content/DispatchRates.aspx

This is the data snapshot of current rates $22 to $97 MWHr .

BigBarney

Here is my 2 cents worth. 4 or 5 yrs ago Efficiency Maine gave a rebate for LED bulbs, so I bought a couple cases...24 bulbs per case I think.
...now keep in mind, I compare utility companies right up there with fast food places. They don't care what you buy, (or use for lighting) such in this case, as long as they get "X" amount of money from you each time you visit, (or month).
What makes me think this way is my water bill...I think half the folks in my town either own a camp or their extended family does. These camps have no water meter, the homes they leave vacant while at camp 5 months a year do. Also... many homes are for sale and vacant, so they generate zero money for the water company.
The water company then raised the minimum water usage from 300 cubic ft/ quarter to 600 cubic ft and also raised the dollar amount. They went before the Public Utility Commission, (P.U.C.), and complained that people are using too little water, (conserving), so an increase is needed.
So keep conserving like me and get penalized for doing it. My electric rates are some the highest in the country and I am surrounded by electric generating dams.

Sneak over and turn a sink faucet on while the campers are gone

Your right about rates going up when everybody conserves. Greed is an odd creature.

warminmn wrote: ↑

Sat. May. 12, 2018 10:02 am

Sneak over and turn a sink faucet on while the campers are gone

Your right about rates going up when everybody conserves. Greed is an odd creature.

F'Kn Public Utilities are snickering behind the scenes when they sponsor conservation advertising or rebates. They simply include the cost into their rates. Now the electric co's are giving back less to those sending power to the grid. My Electric co is in trouble because they knew about billing issues with their new smart meters, some folks monthly electric bill quadrupled for no reason other than the new meters.
Hats off to the guys in the cherry pickers...the rest of them can go pound sand.

This is analogous to the price of chain saw bars...why you ask? Back when the first roller tip bars came out, everyone was used to the regular bars with hardened ends. Guys made a living welding them up and regrooving them etc. My father, being an oldtimer, wanted to stay with his old bars as the new roller tips were prone to breaking. When he went to buy a new bar for his old Homelite XL, it was 3 times the price......because they were not in demand anymore and more expensive because....well because.

Kevin

Now trouble for the natural gas power generators... cannot compete with

0 cost energy.... solar is the ultimate solution...

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/renewables-boom- ... ge/524345/

Cost of fuel is nearly equal to the cost of the plant in 10 years...

BigBarney

Lots of paychecks going for solar and wind installation.

Solar and wind worker's numbers has long since surpassed the number's of the unemployed coal miners.

Globally utilities do not want to be at the mercy of the NG suppliers...sun and wind is a 'sure bet'.

Best not to keep driving forward with eyes focused on the rearview mirror.

Sure bet for solar and wind ?

My winter need for electricity is ten times that of summer.

When I need electricity the most, the days are many hours shorter, the sun angle is much lower requiring a change in panel tilt angle to gain best performance. The weather is heavy cloud cover most days of the winter months that further reduces output, the solar panels often get covered with wet snow requiring someone to go up on a roof to clear them - possibly several times a day ? No thanks.

Here wind is very inconsistent. Even the many large windmills on ridge tops north of me in Madison County are often not turning whenever I drive by. 15-20 years ago it was common to see trucks carrying windmill parts to new sites. Haven't seen any in the last 15 years. I think the wind power idea is now becalmed.

Only sure bet is lots of "solar companies" took our tax dollars and went broke when the "green power" demand didn't match the hype.

Paul

Sunny Boy wrote: ↑

Sun. May. 27, 2018 11:45 am

Sure bet for solar and wind ?

My winter need for electricity is ten times that of summer.

When I need electricity the most, the days are many hours shorter, the sun angle is much lower requiring a change in panel tilt angle to gain best performance. The weather is heavy cloud cover most days of the winter months that further reduces output, the solar panels often get covered with wet snow requiring someone to go up on a roof to clear them - possibly several times a day ? No thanks.

Here wind is very inconsistent. Even the many large windmills on ridge tops north of me in Madison County are often not turning whenever I drive by. 15-20 years ago it was common to see trucks carrying windmill parts to new sites. Haven't seen any in the last 15 years. I think the wind power idea is now becalmed.

Only sure bet is lots of "solar companies" took our tax dollars and went broke when the "green power" demand didn't match the hype.

Paul

There are still plenty of windmills being installed here and further west. Perhaps its not as profitable in your area because of lighter winds as you mentioned that. I cannot speak for any state on the other side of the Mississippi River as I rarely go there. There are a lot of private windmills here too.

I see lots of large solar farms going up here too, which I dont know the cost comparison of vs wind here, but hard to make sense out of in this state where the wind is always blowing and the sun is not always shining. I dont know how much govt funding they get for either one here.

My understanding is the cost of setting up panels is minimal to the cost of storage battery set-ups. Some of that going on here & Towns are voting in moratoriums & finally bans on commercial sights. These guys seem to be mostly shucksters suckin off the Towns & Govt. teets. Many have come, started & gone away whining about one thing or another!! BUT, never the moneys/grants they've received.

freetown fred wrote: ↑

Sun. May. 27, 2018 12:22 pm

My understanding is the cost of setting up panels is minimal to the cost of storage battery set-ups. Some of that going on here & Towns are voting in moratoriums & finally bans on commercial sights. These guys seem to be mostly shucksters suckin off the Towns & Govt. teets. Many have come, started & gone away whining about one thing or another!! BUT, never the moneys/grants they've received.

Yup. Sometimes the expression, "going green: refers to the tax payers physical condition after seeing how much of their tax dollars were wasted to "save the planet". .

https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Rest ... gs.SOf2KqM

Love to know where those companies are/were situated geographically.