"The Economics of Grid Defection" (What is a 'utility in a box'? - k)

[kristopher]

15. Well... it's true the ISOs and owners of generation will adapt.

The path of adaptation will favor generation sources that can ramp quickly to accommodate the expansion of VRE.
FERC has recently made rules establishing the requirement that the value of load following be recognized.

Here is a bit of information. The snip is about one rule but there are others.

...Under the old system, service schedules were set once an hour. This exposed variable providers to excess service charges to smooth out their supply because their generation varied within the hour. The new rule allows for variable providers to set schedules to 15-minute increments, giving them the ability to manage exposure to excess charges when generation input changes within the hour...

...FERC said this requirement will help transmission providers better manage resource variability.

...“This final rule eliminates undue burdens on these resources and will help transmission providers and their customers effectively manage the costs of integration,” Wellinghoff said last week.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/112718994


These two recent posts more broadly discuss the nature of the changes we are going through.

IEA says wind and solar can carry bulk of energy transformation
http://www.democraticunderground.com/112765222

Flexible backup capacity is better option
Need for power storage overstated
http://www.democraticunderground.com/112763672