When your neighbour offers free power, take it. SaskPower did. Thanks, Alberta!
SaskPower was “buying” enough power to light 146,000 homes for less than a price of a Timbit, because you have to pay at least something for a Timbit.
And it has a lot to do with excess wind power while interties are down.
Also:
First of the submissions to be published on Pipeline Online:
Oil & gas emissions cap Economic Impact Assessment Tribunal: Woodland Development Corp.
And, while at the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show, some interesting things happened. Apparently the media came from Edmonton and Calgary to Lloydminster so they could ask the premier about Edmonton and Calgary.
Brian Zinchuk: Did the mainstream media even know they were in Lloydminster?
The Eloi likely think that’s a good thing and proof of free wind power. The most insidious subsidy for wind and solar is their guaranteed purchase regardless of demand. It’s why they should have to match grid demand at their cost.
Brian, thanks for these missives. It’s important to have this information in the public sphere.
Yes, well done Brian.
This is what was happening in Germany. Germany had surplus green energy that then got dumped in neighboring countries grids at crazy low prices, including zero. This created problems for the other countries because it reduces the revenue their own electricity providers. If their own electricity providers can’t make enough money then they will eventually reduce new investment or close their money losing plants. But, because wind/solar power is unreliable, the neighboring countries need the reliable power producers to remain open and financially viable so the governments were refusing to allow Germany to dump its excess green electricity on to their grid.
Saskpower, being provincially owned, is less sensitive to the market conditions created by surplus power being dumped on to its grid. Saskatchewan is getting all the benefit. Alberta gets very little to no benefit if they have to sell excess power to Saskatchewan for free.
Green energy creates bizarre electricity problems and unintended consequences after it exceeds 20% of installed electricity capacity. That was known a couple decades ago when I was still working in the electricity industry.
These days the price of natural gas on the Alberta spot market is also pretty much free so it is not just electricity. When commodities are in surplus their price goes to zero. Sometimes in Alberta, propane can be had for free. Canola growers getting the same lesson now.
Brian Z – You’re welcome! And I say that as an alberta taxpayers and local utilities buyer.