Why the Grid is getting less reliable. House Hearing 2013.
Mr. Jonathan A. Lesser, President Continental Economics, Inc.
[This is a really good introduction to how the grid works and the problems caused by intermittent wind (and solar)]
I appreciate the invitation from the Committee to testify today regarding the costs and the reliability implications of integrating “intermittent generating resources. By way of background, I began my professional career almost 30 years ago, as a load forecaster for Idaho Power. In my work for government, industry, and as a consultant, I have been involved with, and researched, many facets of the electric industry, as well as corresponding policy issues, at both the national and individual state levels. These issues have covered: (1) the “nuts and bolts” issues involved in regulating and designing electric rates; (2) electric industry restructuring, and the introduction of wholesale and retail competition; (3) environmental regulations affecting energy resource development and use; (4) the costs and benefits of renewable generation; (5) the economic impacts of electric competition; and (6) the economic consequences of energy subsidies. I have testified numerous times before state regulatory commissions, before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, before legislative committees in many other states, and before international energy regulators. I have co-authored three textbooks, including Environmental Economics and Policy, Fundamentals of Energy Regulation (for which my co-author and I are now preparing a second edition), and Principles of Utility Corporate Finance. My testimony this morning focuses on “intermittent” generating resources – primarily wind and solar photovoltaics (PV)– their impact on electric system reliability, and the costs that must be borne to “integrate such resources onto the power grid.
On July 6, 2012, when the demand for electricity in northern Illinois and Chicago hit a record of over 22,000 megawatts, the average amount of wind generation that day was a virtually non-existent 4 megawatts.
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