One of Missouri's PSC Commissioners has been beating the drum against regional cost allocation for transmission lines since last year. It's no wonder that he's shown up in the news with a new quote... and it's a good one!
"It's like being able to remodel your house and assess your neighbors for the cost," he said.
In the above-linked AP article, Cost of high-voltage lines for wind irks utilities, there's a whole bunch of whining about regional cost allocation, with threats to withdraw from the RTO by some power companies. It looks like most of this article, except for the last paragraph, pre-dates last week's issue of FERC Order No. 1000 because now these utilities CAN'T withdraw from SPP, even if they want to. And the whole cost allocation thing just got even more appalling, with the new ability to spread costs over more than one region. This means that these new transmission projects are going to get even more expensive and provide even more profits to the power companies who build them. And you're going to pay the bill.
You can be sure that AEP is congratulating themselves on setting up the regulatory framework for their "national grid". However, this 2010 study reveals that, "The AEP Study significantly underestimates the potential costs of a 765 kV national grid overlay." It's going to cost you a lot more than AEP has been telling people. How much? "...we believe that the AEP Study’s cost estimate for a national EHV overlay of $60-$100 billion is considerably understated. Based on more recent and realistic cost figures, we estimate costs for a national 765 kV EHV overlay to be between $150 billion and $220 billion..." (and remember, this study is already more than a year old).
C'mon over to the Coalition for Reliable Power and find out how easy it is to opt out of Mikey's "National Grid."
"It's like being able to remodel your house and assess your neighbors for the cost," he said.
In the above-linked AP article, Cost of high-voltage lines for wind irks utilities, there's a whole bunch of whining about regional cost allocation, with threats to withdraw from the RTO by some power companies. It looks like most of this article, except for the last paragraph, pre-dates last week's issue of FERC Order No. 1000 because now these utilities CAN'T withdraw from SPP, even if they want to. And the whole cost allocation thing just got even more appalling, with the new ability to spread costs over more than one region. This means that these new transmission projects are going to get even more expensive and provide even more profits to the power companies who build them. And you're going to pay the bill.
You can be sure that AEP is congratulating themselves on setting up the regulatory framework for their "national grid". However, this 2010 study reveals that, "The AEP Study significantly underestimates the potential costs of a 765 kV national grid overlay." It's going to cost you a lot more than AEP has been telling people. How much? "...we believe that the AEP Study’s cost estimate for a national EHV overlay of $60-$100 billion is considerably understated. Based on more recent and realistic cost figures, we estimate costs for a national 765 kV EHV overlay to be between $150 billion and $220 billion..." (and remember, this study is already more than a year old).
C'mon over to the Coalition for Reliable Power and find out how easy it is to opt out of Mikey's "National Grid."
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