A free market electrical grid that offers affordable consumer pricing requires a market design based on competition. Interference in the design or incentives by legislators will cost Texas consumers affordability. #ERCOT #Capacity @GovAbbott @AllenWest @DonHuffines @DadePhelan
When you see a journalist or legislator demanding the grid be put on the governors call ask them to explain the market design and incentives used to deliver affordable energy to consumers. Ask for an in depth explanation of what might damage the trading systems or incentives.
The free market design and incentives associated with the ERCOT system are sensitive and must be adjusted carefully to cure deficiencies associated with the renewable distortions, which were not contemplated in 1999.
The original 1999 deregulation of the market never contemplated more than 6600 megawatts of renewables. ERCOT now has over 31,000 megawatts of renewables distorting the formula and rewarding renewable generation the same as thermal generation (coal, gas, and nuclear).
Renewable energy is not dispatchable and when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow you got nothing. The problem is made worse by wind energy, which becomes less efficient with humidity. The drag humidity creates on the wind turbine blade increases in-efficiency.
Think of it this way. Imagine a simple fan blowing air on your face. I am dumbing down here for folks who work at the @HoustonChron, sorry but necessary. Then imagine yourself throwing a wet paper towel across the blades. The weight of the towel is the effect of humidity itself.
The weight of the towel causes drag rendering the blades less efficient. Realize Houston in summer is very humid rendering wind energy inefficient. This is exactly why most of the wind farms are in far West Texas where humidity is low, very low.
The problem with all of the viable wind energy being located in far West Texas is that no one lives there. Most of the electrical demand is driven by humidity. The problem of moving this stranded energy to a viable market say Houston or Dallas is conductivity.
Conductivity has always been the issue with the majority of our wind energy. Moving it to viable markets has led to a very large distortion in the market design of the competitive market in which ERCOT operates.
Congratulations if you have read this thread through you are 1000X smarter than anyone at the @HoustonChron and a graduate of the Don Hooper ERCOT school of how things work.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
