In the big scheme of things, I only follow a few "issues" outside of the Bakken. I used to follow / track articles on "global warming" / "climate change" but now that I understand what's going on and because it's generally the same story day in / day out, I tend not to follow it much any more. I've also quit following the Biden administration, and politics, in general, but occasionally post something on the latter, but I certainly don't follow Biden like I followed Bush II, Obama, Hillary and Trump.
I don't follow the EV story as much as the "streaming wars" story.
How I decide what to track? I have no idea. Whatever seems to interest me, mostly to try to get a better understanding of something. Once I feel I have a good understanding of something, I tend to lose interest.
That's all background to ISO NE and ISO NY. How in the world did I ever get interested in those two grids / issues? It started with ISO NE and then, sometime late, to ISO NY. I started following ISO NE when they started banning new sources of fossil fuel just a few miles to the west of them and tried to replace it with wind energy. So, that was years ago. And then ISO NY when that witless representative from Long Island wanted to do the same thing. Be that as it may, others are now following the same story.
A reader alerted me to a story in The WSJ today, October 17, 2022:
New England power producers are preparing for potential strain on the grid this winter as a surge in natural-gas demand abroad threatens to reduce supplies they need to generate electricity.
New England, which relies on natural-gas imports to bridge winter supply gaps, is now competing with European countries for shipments of liquefied natural gas, following Russia’s halt of most pipeline gas to the continent. Severe cold spells in the Northeast could reduce the amount of gas available to generate electricity as more of it is burned to heat homes. [Any mention of the Utica, Marcellus, or Permian?] [Any mention of solar or wind?]
The region’s power-grid operator, ISO New England Inc., has warned that an extremely cold winter could strain the reliability of the grid and potentially result in the need for rolling blackouts to keep electricity supply and demand in balance. The warning comes as executives and analysts predict power producers could have to pay as much as several times more than last year for gas deliveries if severe weather creates urgent need for spot-market purchases.
“The most challenging aspect of this winter is what’s happening around the world and the extreme volatility in the markets,” said Vamsi Chadalavada, the grid operator’s chief operating officer. “If you are in the commercial sector, at what point do you buy fuel?”
Power producers in New England are limited in their ability to store fuel on site and face challenges in contracting for gas supplies, as most pipeline capacity is reserved by gas utilities serving homes and businesses. Most generators tend to procure only a portion of imports with fixed-price agreements and instead rely on the spot market, where gas prices have been volatile, to fill shortfalls.
The New England ISO expects that the grid can weather a mild-to-moderate winter without significant reliability challenges. However, it has warned that electricity demand could threaten to surge beyond available supply after multiple sustained periods of severely cold weather, which would result in calls for conservation similar to those issued in California in September during a regionwide heat wave.
Some of my readers have suggested we have the same problem in Texas with ERCOT. Nope, we don't.
In New England, it's a "green-led" supply problem; in Texas it's a de-regulated, free-market demand problem. Huge difference.
The "demand" in New England is not growing; the supply if declining. In Texas, the demand is surging and Texans are doing all they can -- including renewable energy (which, or course) makes things worse to increase supply.
In New England, the powers that be seem to be working to make things worse; in Texas, the powers that be seem to be trying to make things better, albeit with free market and politics often working at cross-purposes.
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