🚀 go-pugleaf

GeneK wrote:
> 
> John Higdon <no-spam@RadioMonopoly.com> wrote...
> 
> > Truly amazing ethical behavior on the part of power generators considering
> > the intense economic incentive to do the opposite. After all, anyone who can
> > withhold product from the market and more than make up for the revenue loss
> > by re-pricing the remaining product would be very stupid to run out his
> > product at capacity, no?
> 
> Hardly.  They're running their plants now when electricity prices are at a high
> and deferring their maintenance shutdowns until spring, when heating use will
> be less and prices will fall even if there isn't some sort of "solution."

Except they ain't.  The Cal ISO (the guys who are declaring these
Stage 3 alerts) are estimating that about 1/3 of the generating
capacity in the state is down for maintenance. And this at one
of the two peak annual periods for power demand.

It appears, according to the Chronic, that some power plant companies
noticed a spike in natural gas prices and shut their gas-fired plants
down early for maintenance.  Their gas supplies are on fixed long-term
contracts, so they can sell the gas on the spot market and make a bit
of money.  The question is whether they planned also to raise the
price of electricity at the same time.  Once a boiler is disasembled,
it isn't an instantaneous job to put it back together again -- but
just how long does it take, anyway?

						Silas Warner