Texas, Mexico link electric grids

[jpak]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-texmexelectricity_19bus.ART.State.Edition1.35b5c97.html

Texas and Mexico are tying their electricity grids together to allow commercial power trade, but it's not obvious which way the juice might flow.

As a brand-new interconnection fires up next month, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas is testing whether the grid it operates north of the Rio Grande can handle commercial transactions with Mexico. Three small interconnections between the grids are now used strictly for emergencies.Northern Mexico generates more electricity than the region needs, and experts say it can do so at a lower cost than the U.S.

That's an argument for Texas importing Mexican power. But the electricity could eventually flow the other direction, as Mexico's demand for power soars.

Supplying demand on either side of the Rio Grande could present a business opportunity for power generation companies. But there are a couple of niggling issues that could disrupt the whole idea: environmental worries and federal jurisdiction.

<more>

[XemaSab]

1. This is a giant dong.

Mexican projects are exempt from NEPA (obviously).

It's one thing to have soot-spewing coal plants in China, and another thing entirely to have them in TJ, Mexicali, Nogales, Ciudad Juarez, Nuevo Laredo, and Matamoros. :(

It's bad for us, and bad for the Mexicans. :(

[AlecBGreen]

2. huh?

"It's one thing to have soot-spewing coal plants in China, and another thing entirely to have them in TJ, Mexicali, Nogales, Ciudad Juarez, Nuevo Laredo, and Matamoros. "

Its OK to pollute Chinese air but not Mexicos? Am I missing something?

[XemaSab]

3. Yeah, that was poorly phrased.

I guess what I'm saying is that "outsourcing" our electrical production is like (the proverbial) pissing in the wind.

You know companies will do it just to save a buck, and the cost will be air pollution in our skies that comes from areas outside our regulatory aegis. Not to mention the damage to the people and landscapes of Mexico, of course.

I think China really doesn't care about their citizenry period. I think Mexico does care about their people, but I worry that the almighty dollar might encourage them to look the other way in the face of filthy, nasty, poorly sited plants.

As someone who was until recently working with people siting power plants, this is just a total slap in the face. :(

[bananas]

5. SDG&E is trying to do the same thing

http://ucan.org/energy/home

[Dead_Parrot]

6. Well, look on the bright side:

It looks like the Saudi's might be about to dump the US dollar http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1850874">(GD thread) which would leave you unable to afford that suddenly expensive Mexican juice...

[XemaSab]

7. Yeah, I saw that.

Like, honestly, could we be any more screwn? :P

Oh, wait, you're a Kiwi. Dammit. :banghead:

[Dead_Parrot]

8. ...

[JeffreyWilliamson]

4. Okay...

I'll play devil's advocate here...

I don't see what the big deal is--when we go into Iran and set off World War III, the entire electrical grid will be useless after the resulting nuclear holocaust anyway. Why panic now? I say enjoy it while we can.

In fact, we should probably help Mexican corporations build more power plants, as quickly as possible. The lights in our refugee camps aren't going to power themselves, you know...

(This was meant as a humorous response. The sad thing is, it's probably going to come true.)