http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=a43948eff49f7c6e&cat=c08dd24cec417021Hot 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!!!