Hot summer could bring power outages, price spikes

[lovuian]

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=a43948eff49f7c6e&cat=c08dd24cec417021

Hot summer could bring power outages, price spikes
Stretched electric grid
leaves some regions vulnerable
Though California has added generating capacity since its power meltdown in 2001, transmission bottlenecks remain.
By John W. Schoen
MSNBC
Updated: 5:51 p.m. ET June 1, 2005

John W. Schoen
Senior Producer

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With forecasts calling for hotter-than-normal temperatures, the nation’s power grid will be put to the test again this summer. While most parts of the country should have adequate supplies, ongoing transmission bottlenecks continue to leave some regions vulnerable to blackouts or sharp rate increases.

Demand for electricity is expected to rise by nearly 6 percent this summer, with generating capacity up 7.4 percent, according to the North American Reliability Council, an industry group. So for most parts of the country, generating capacity is expected to meet demand -– even on the hottest days of summer.

But the availability of electrical power –- and the price you pay for it -- depends heavily on where you live. Despite strong investment in new generating capacity in the past few years, the nation’s power grid is still a patchwork of smaller markets based on regional power lines that were never designed to move electricity coast-to-cast.

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Remeber those power outages in the days of Enron Manipulation is back on again!!!

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[goclark]

4. I'll say I love LA!

I have lived other places, mid west, east coast and for me, there is no other place on earth I would rather be.

[Fire Walk With Me]

2. Uh-oh! Enron!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

3. The Summer of our Discontent.

[DeaconBlues]

5. with the republicans in power, I would expect summer riots will again

flare up.

[Bozita]

6. My utilities powerhouse has been advertising natural gas backup generators

Looks like a second a/c unit in the yard.

Starting somewhere around $3000.

There's one on display at my local hardware store.

Is my electricity provider telling me something?

[truthisfreedom]

8. i got so sick of the power going out for 6 hours at a time in my neighbor-

hood that i bought one! i have a 15KW natural gas generator that can run indefinitely if the power goes out (well, of course, it will need periodic servicing) and it handles everything but my electric stove and electric baseboard heat on my porch. if i get a gas stove, i'll pretty much be set! the power company claims our power goes out because of trees and animals interfering with the lines, but i know it's much worse than that... we suffer lengthy brownouts in the summer where all of my lights are yellowish for most of the day. i finally got so sick of having my home office go dead with outages that i sprang for the generator... it was about $5K installed, from Home Depot, and that included special wiring (it was too far from the breaker box to use the included wiring), about 80 feet of new gas line and a new gas regulator for the higher pressure needed for the generator. it cycles on once a week to keep it ready for action... except for my neighbors across the street with their deafening gasoline portable, i'm the only one in my neighborhood with power when things go dead around here!

[uncle ray]

7. ooohhhh, terror lite!