Discussions on Electricity Supply Reliability
Yesterday I was invited by Southwest Michigan First to make a presentation on Legal/Permitting Processes relating to the electric power industry. It was interesting to have Consumers Energy and American Electric Power on the same panel discussing alternative energy options. I know that for every independent power supplier contract they sign they are reducing their own chance to “build that capacity.” And only when a utility is building is there a return on investment for the shareholders. Nonetheless, they appear to be genuinely ready to buy third-party capacity.
There was a lively discussion on reliability and speculation on the future of electric rates. I tried to focus the discussion on reserve margin and backup capacity issues, but that was a little too advanced for this stage of the discussion. A few people wanted to talk about these issues, and the pros and cons of natural gas backing up wind energy (a la T. Boone Pickens), but the time constraints of the program prevented that.
Very interesting presentation on the Kalamazoo Valley Community College wind turbine technician program.
