The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that 61 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity are wasted in the U.S. each year in transformers or the equivalent 30 powerplants operating for no useful purpose...Electric Light & Power interviewed delegates at CES International’s annual customer conference about their utilities’ preparations for new power technologies, mainly issues of integrating new alternative power technologies with existing electrical networks. The survey indicates that the majority of delegates agreed that their utilities had a coordinated approach to managing distributed generation but they were not sure a coordinated approach was in place regarding embedded generation. The majority also indicated they were unsure whether or not their utilities had a coordinated approach to managing new power technologies or managing power parks and microgrids.
(Electric Light & Power, January 2002)
While California's Power Authority trumpets its plan to promote renewable energy and boost electricity reserves, details of how billions of dollars in unspecified projects will be financed still remain largely unknown.
Officially called the California Consumer Power and Conservation Financing Authority, the agency has been authorized by the state to issue up to US$5 billion in bonds. The authority is charged with three main goals: increasing energy reserves, promoting renewable resources, and making public buildings more energy efficient.
Those tapped to head the authority insist their mission is vital; others question whether the authority is still needed, now that the power crisis has ebbed. "There is no question: the power authority is not needed," said Gary Ackerman, executive director of the Western Power Trading Forum, a consortium of energy companies. "The private market is able to make investments in California's future without the financial burden on taxpayers," he said. "I have yet to see an example where a state-run power authority can do a better job than privately run entities," he said.
Proponents of government sponsored power initiatives counter that the private sector failed - spectacularly - to meet the state's growing energy needs, resulting in shortages and skyrocketing energy prices.
