Wellinghoff, Boston, Howard Dean report on 'greening' of power

Restructuring Today

Competitive markets will make transforming the power industry to combat climate change easier than under the traditional regulated monopoly structure, experts and industry leaders reported at the Compete Coalition and Energy Daily press conference yesterday.

FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff -- who took heat for earlier comments saying that central coal and nuclear plants might go the way of the dinosaur -- clarified his position as envisioning a future where renewables, efficiency and DR could one day make coal and nuclear plants a thing of the past, he explained.

But that's not a given, he warned, and ultimately the markets will decide what shape the industry takes.

Wellinghoff sees markets as the best way to advance his three main topics of concern at FERC: boosting efficiency, integrating DR and integrating more renewables.

"It's happening.  We are changing the culture.  We are changing the technology," said Wellinghoff.  "We are doing that by ensuring that these markets are open to all sources of demand and supply."

Competitive markets are green and innovative, said PJM CEO Terry Boston.

Nine out of the RTO's 13 member states and Washington DC have renewable portfolio standards and that will drive renewables from 26 million mwh this year to 200 million mwh in 2025, he added.

PJM's 90,000 mw generation queue is half renewables, with 44,000 mw of wind alone including a project that wants into its markets but is located in Nebraska, said Boston.

Bringing in wind from the Midwest might be part of the solution but with 53% of the population living within 100 miles of the coast, offshore wind should be an option, too, he added.  Offshore wind costs 70-100% more than terrestrial wind but should be built because it's so close to load, he added (Editor's note: And the wind offshore blows stronger and more consistently, helping justify the added costs).

Building all those renewable sources will take careful planning and balancing it with DR to take up the slack before quick start gas units can kick online to avoid blackouts, said Boston.

Another factor in the innovation of the industry should be DG, even in states such as Vermont, said its former Governor and former Presidential Candidate Howard Dean.  DG can offset the need for huge transmission lines that often suffer from NIMBYism, especially in the Northeast, he added.

This story has been reproduced from the May 13, 2009 issue of Restructuring Today with the permission  of the publisher, GHI LLC.  To view the full story on Restructuring Today’s website, please visit http://www.restructuringtoday.com/public/9649.cfm?sd=77.