As I’ve been saying forever, there’s a lot of generation planned, and if even a small portion of this generation comes on line, there’s no need for new transmission that they want:<\/p>\n
CLICK HERE: PJM’S RTEP (Regional Transmission Expansion Plan)<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And look at what’s in the PJM Queue:<\/p>\n
PJM GENERATION QUEUE<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Why am I thinking about this? Because it seems the industry has discovered the obvious. Much of the transmission proposed is not needed. This acknowledges that much of the transmission proposed in PJM’s RTEP is not needed. Well, DUH! From the inbox today, second hand:<\/p>\n
From: service [at] energycentral.com
\nSubject: Offshore Wind Riding a Wave
\nDate: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 06:29:00 -0700<\/em><\/p>\n
\nBill Opalka Editor-in-Chief Energy Central Topic Newsletters<\/em><\/p>\nWhile T. Boone Pickens has garnered much attention in recent months
\nwith his well-publicized plan to create a massive infrastructure
\nfor wind energy production in America’s heartland, offshore wind
\nenergy is getting more attention in the heavily populated Northeast.<\/em><\/p>\nFor its part, the Pickens Plan would require billions in transmission
\nlines needed to bring electricity from the wind-rich regions of the
\ncentral United States to population centers nearer to the coasts.
\nAs for offshore wind — while by no means cheap — it would eliminate
\nthe need to build transmission lines over hundreds,
\nif not thousands of miles inland.<\/em><\/p>\nAccording to the Department of Energy, the net incremental cost of
\na project like the Pickens Plan would be $43 billion, enough to bring
\nwind energy to supply 20 percent of the nation’s electricity by 2030.<\/em><\/p>\nThe coastal Northeast that runs from Massachusetts to North Carolina
\ncould contain up to 330,000 megawatts of average electrical capacity,
\naccording to a study from the University of Delaware.
\nThis is a third of the Department of Energy’s estimate of the total
\nAmerican offshore resource of 900,000 megawatts. There are about a
\ndozen projects overall proposed for this region.
\nThe potential for projects exists nationwide.<\/em><\/p>\nWith rapid progress made in several states, 2008 might be later
\nlooked upon as the time when several projects took massive leaps
\nforward, after a slow and painful process slowed or even stymied
\nprevious offshore wind projects. It is true that regulations for
\npermitting and siting projects are still being developed by the
\nMineral Management Service. Cape Wind, at seven years old the
\nlongest-running proposal and seen as the template for such
\nregulations, made some incremental progress. But several other
\nprojects took important steps when states chose developers or
\nlong-term power purchase agreements were negotiated between
\nwind developers and incumbent utilities.<\/em><\/p>\nAfter price shocks hit the state following electricity deregulation,
\nthe Delaware General Assembly passed a law calling for the state to
\ngenerate more of its electricity. The Public Service Commission
\nsolicited proposals from all electricity resources. The Bluewater
\nWind Park proposal described a 200-turbine, 600-megawatt,
\n$1.5 billion offshore wind farm. In May 2007 the Public Service
\nCommission unanimously selected the Bluewater and ordered Delmarva
\nPower to negotiate a contract. Delmarva argued that offshore wind
\nwould raise the average electric bill by $20 or more a month.
\nBut by last summer the companies signed a power purchase agreement
\nwith Bluewater Wind to build a scaled-down, 200-megawatt wind farm
\noff the coast.<\/em><\/p>\nOff the coast of Rhode Island, meanwhile, Deepwater Wind has
\nproposed a $1.5 billion project that would erect more than 100
\nwind turbines. The state picked the developer from seven bidders
\nfollowing requests for proposals that were sought last spring.
\nRhode Island expects the wind farm to provide about 15 percent
\nof the state’s electricity, generating about 1.3 million
\nmegawatt-hours a year. The location has not been determined and
\nDeepwater has committed to building manufacturing facilities for
\nthe project in Rhode Island. A formal development agreement is
\nexpected to be completed by year’s end.<\/em><\/p>\nAnd Regulators in New Jersey in September awarded rights to build
\na huge offshore wind farm in the southern part of the state.
\nThe selection is part of the state’s Energy Master Plan, which
\nmandates 20 percent of the state’s energy to come from renewable
\nsources by 2020. The proposal by Garden State Offshore Energy
\nincludes installing 96 turbines to produce as much as 346 megawatts.
\nThe project, which would cost more than $1 billion, is between
\n16 and 20 miles off the coast of New Jersey. It would not start
\nproducing electricity until 2013. Permitting from federal and
\nstate agencies is the next step for Garden State Offshore Energy.<\/em><\/p>\nAs for Massachusetts, Cape Wind Associates first proposed a wind
\nfarm for Nantucket Sound seven years ago. But it has been mired
\nin controversy ever since. The 130 turbines are expected to
\ngenerate an average of 170 megawatts of electricity.
\nState regulatory agencies have weighed in, although the pathway
\nto successful completion is anything but assured. A final federal
\nassessment of the project’s environmental impact is expected
\nby the end of the year. There are also a number of lawsuits
\nsurrounding the project that have yet to be decided.<\/em><\/p>\nFinally, the Long Island Power Authority is preparing to explore
\nwind power again, just a year after its previous attempt was
\ndropped due to high costs. This proposal would be lower in cost
\nand less visible, two objections the previous foray couldn’t
\nsurvive. LIPA in September said it would join with utility Con
\nEdison to study the prospect of a 300-megawatt wind farm 10 miles
\noff the coast of Queens. LIPA and Con Edison would split the
\ncosts and divide energy from the project.<\/em><\/p>\nBuilding power-related facilities has always been contentious
\nand expensive. Off-shore wind farms are no different. But they
\nhave the potential supply enormous of power and to avoid endless
\nmiles of transmission lines on land. Several states think that a
\nworthy goal. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\nAre the utilities paying attention? Are the Public Service Commissioners across the county weighing transmission applications paying attention?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As I’ve been saying forever, there’s a lot of generation planned, and if even a small portion of this generation comes on line, there’s no need for new transmission that they want: CLICK HERE: PJM’S RTEP (Regional Transmission Expansion Plan) …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[14,15,24,22,25,23],"class_list":["post-359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nuts-bolts","tag-capx-2020","tag-capx2020","tag-midwest-transmission-expansion-plan","tag-mtep","tag-regional-transmission-expansion-plan","tag-rtep"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}