Some shady sounding organization calling itself the Wind Energy Foundation issued a "report" recently. The goal of this "report" seems to be to make the hoi polloi believe that "demand" is growing for a "national energy grid."
Huh?
First of all, there is no such thing as a "national energy grid." In fact, the U.S. has three distinct grid systems that don't really connect, so they're certainly not "national." Or perhaps they are trying to insinuate that the U.S. electric grid is some federally owned and government financed entity? That's not true either. Transmission lines are owned by many different entities, some for profit, and some not for profit, and some by private entities and some by government entities. The only thing that matters is that the regional transmission operators and balancing authorities keep the lights on in our communities. And they do, for the most part.
If I were to write a recipe for crashing the three separate and distinct grids, first I'd connect them all together in as many places as I could. The more connections, the more chances for massive, cascading failure. Then I'd eliminate all the small, diverse, local power generators and connect my massive "national" grid to just a few massive generators located thousands of miles from electric customers. It wouldn't take long for such a "national" grid to crash, we're talking massive failure that would take approximately forever to recover. And that's exactly the kind of system the Wind Energy Foundation's "report" urges us to "demand."
And let's talk about that word, "demand." The Wind Energy Foundation's "report" says that corporations are "demanding" more renewable energy. Excuse me, corporate America, who are you to "demand" anything. If you want renewable energy, then make it yourself. I'm pretty sure all your giant marts and factories have some pretty large rooftops and parking lots just perfect for installing your own solar farm. In fact, I demand that you do so. If you don't want to do that, then I demand that you pack up your corporate bindle and relocate to one of those those horribly rural areas where you think renewable energy comes from so you can obtain it from its source. You cannot demand that rural America sacrifice itself to become your power plant, much less demand a right of way across thousands of miles of rural America for massive new transmission lines to serve your urban corporate headquarters.
And furthermore, I demand that you pay for your renewable energy demand yourself. That's right, if you think using renewable energy makes you more attractive to your customers so that they will pay more for your products, then the cost of doing so is on you, not me.
The Wind Energy Foundation's report recommends that corporate America demand that regional transmission organizations order new transmission lines built to serve them. That's not how RTOs work, you silly twits. RTOs plan and operate their regional grids first and foremost for reliability, you know, keeping the lights on. RTOs also plan and operate new lines for economic purposes, presuming that new transmission lowers power prices in the region. And do you know why that is? It's because all lines planned and ordered by an RTO are cost allocated to the electric consumers who benefit. It's called a cost/benefit analysis. You've heard of that, right, corporate America? The one who gets the benefits from the new transmission line pays the cost of building and operating it. So who do you think gets the benefits from all the new renewable energy transmission lines you're demanding? You do, corporate America, you do!
So, you're willing to pay billions of dollars for all these new transmission lines you're demanding, right? And then you'll just roll those billions of dollars of expense into your production cost, and increase your prices accordingly, right? And consumers will jump at the chance to buy your overpriced products produced with "clean energy," right? Am I talking your language now?
I'm betting that if corporate America had to pay for all these new transmission lines that the Wind Energy Foundation is urging them to demand, all of a sudden renewable energy wouldn't be so important. It's only worth demanding if someone else is paying for it.
Ya know, wind energy companies are for profit businesses, too. They rake in the green by brainwashing everyone to be green. However, there's a limit to the amount of green John Q. Public is willing to pay for. The Wind Energy Foundation fills its own pockets first by manipulating corporate America like a stage full of marionettes.
"I demand renewable energy!"
"I demand more transmission!"
I demand that the Wind Energy Foundation take its "report" and shove it. I'm not paying for corporate renewable energy goals. The most reliable electrical system is local. Small, diverse, local generators connected to local users.
Huh?
First of all, there is no such thing as a "national energy grid." In fact, the U.S. has three distinct grid systems that don't really connect, so they're certainly not "national." Or perhaps they are trying to insinuate that the U.S. electric grid is some federally owned and government financed entity? That's not true either. Transmission lines are owned by many different entities, some for profit, and some not for profit, and some by private entities and some by government entities. The only thing that matters is that the regional transmission operators and balancing authorities keep the lights on in our communities. And they do, for the most part.
If I were to write a recipe for crashing the three separate and distinct grids, first I'd connect them all together in as many places as I could. The more connections, the more chances for massive, cascading failure. Then I'd eliminate all the small, diverse, local power generators and connect my massive "national" grid to just a few massive generators located thousands of miles from electric customers. It wouldn't take long for such a "national" grid to crash, we're talking massive failure that would take approximately forever to recover. And that's exactly the kind of system the Wind Energy Foundation's "report" urges us to "demand."
And let's talk about that word, "demand." The Wind Energy Foundation's "report" says that corporations are "demanding" more renewable energy. Excuse me, corporate America, who are you to "demand" anything. If you want renewable energy, then make it yourself. I'm pretty sure all your giant marts and factories have some pretty large rooftops and parking lots just perfect for installing your own solar farm. In fact, I demand that you do so. If you don't want to do that, then I demand that you pack up your corporate bindle and relocate to one of those those horribly rural areas where you think renewable energy comes from so you can obtain it from its source. You cannot demand that rural America sacrifice itself to become your power plant, much less demand a right of way across thousands of miles of rural America for massive new transmission lines to serve your urban corporate headquarters.
And furthermore, I demand that you pay for your renewable energy demand yourself. That's right, if you think using renewable energy makes you more attractive to your customers so that they will pay more for your products, then the cost of doing so is on you, not me.
The Wind Energy Foundation's report recommends that corporate America demand that regional transmission organizations order new transmission lines built to serve them. That's not how RTOs work, you silly twits. RTOs plan and operate their regional grids first and foremost for reliability, you know, keeping the lights on. RTOs also plan and operate new lines for economic purposes, presuming that new transmission lowers power prices in the region. And do you know why that is? It's because all lines planned and ordered by an RTO are cost allocated to the electric consumers who benefit. It's called a cost/benefit analysis. You've heard of that, right, corporate America? The one who gets the benefits from the new transmission line pays the cost of building and operating it. So who do you think gets the benefits from all the new renewable energy transmission lines you're demanding? You do, corporate America, you do!
So, you're willing to pay billions of dollars for all these new transmission lines you're demanding, right? And then you'll just roll those billions of dollars of expense into your production cost, and increase your prices accordingly, right? And consumers will jump at the chance to buy your overpriced products produced with "clean energy," right? Am I talking your language now?
I'm betting that if corporate America had to pay for all these new transmission lines that the Wind Energy Foundation is urging them to demand, all of a sudden renewable energy wouldn't be so important. It's only worth demanding if someone else is paying for it.
Ya know, wind energy companies are for profit businesses, too. They rake in the green by brainwashing everyone to be green. However, there's a limit to the amount of green John Q. Public is willing to pay for. The Wind Energy Foundation fills its own pockets first by manipulating corporate America like a stage full of marionettes.
"I demand renewable energy!"
"I demand more transmission!"
I demand that the Wind Energy Foundation take its "report" and shove it. I'm not paying for corporate renewable energy goals. The most reliable electrical system is local. Small, diverse, local generators connected to local users.
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