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Originally Posted by oil pan 4
The only way to balance production and demand is by adding more production or mandating less demand.
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Or Option C , you didn't include ... storage of excess production during those times when demand reduces on its own ... no mandated less demand required ... no increased production required.
Most places around the country have time periods when the demand actually dips bellow the minimum base load of the utilities facilities ... some of them don't just turn on and off ... so some of them just waste fuel and throw away the base load that is beyond the current real time demand.
A smarter grid has less of that waste.
Quote:
Originally Posted by oil pan 4
Only problem is all the major water pumpers I know opted not to have their rates lowered in exchange for cutting power to their pumps during peak demand.
Problem is on consecutive 100'F+ degree days is when they need water most, pumps run 24hrs or stuff starts dieing.
Thats why they were so mad when they found their pumps not running.
This use to not be a problem but the government forced all the farmers around here to use electrical power to drive their pumps. They use to use natural gas up through the 1990s.
But you drive and hour or 2 into texas and they still use ICE driven irrigation pumps.
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That's a potential problem of being dependent on someone else ... even the utility grid.
They could invest in their own energy independence ... I've known several farmers when I lived in Lancaster Pa that invested in biogas digested tanks ... to turn their farm plant and animal waste into combustible gas , which ran all of their farm equipment , including the water irrigation pumps , tractors , and everything else ... even had surplus to run converted pickup trucks for local errands and such... some also put up RE like wind or solar in order to reach their goal of energy self sufficiency... but others had surplus just from the biogas without any other RE added.