How Should Generation Enterprises Deal with Crisis?

Since October 2008,China‘s social consumption of electricity had,for the first time,grown negatively compared to the same period of the previous year,and in November the negative growth range further expanded. The major pressure faced by the electricity industry has now turned from the contradiction between coal and electricity to electricity quantity. This is undoubtedly a true and new test to electricity enterprises which get used to high growth but are now suffering great losses. The reform of electricit...     

Generation Adequacy: Who Decides?

While market-based methods for generation expansion are the preferred long-term approach, there is currently too much uncertainty regarding how consumers and suppliers will respond to spot price signals. Therefore, policymakers should encourage demand-side experiments and investments to ensure that, when prices rise, customers will be able to respond.     

Stranded Clean Air Costs: How Big?

Concerns over global climate change have prompted proposals for more stringent control of carbon dioxide emissions from the electric industry. Phase II of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 will raise costs of competitive coal-fired electric generators and could strand more costs than restructuring did. Whether ratepayers, taxpayers, or stockholders should pay stranded costs is a political issue.     

Whatever Happened to Efficient Price Signals?

Expected economic benefits of restructuring are being lost due to price distortions resulting from transitional rules. Key culprits include the ability of customers to switch back to utility supply service without appropriate compensation and accounting rules that artificially mask the disparities between retail sales prices and wholesale acquisition costs.     

Green Power Marketing Claims: A Free Ride on Conventional Power?

Many green power products are not producing much, if any, environmental benefit, and not one that could be replicated if all other customers tried to make the same choices.     

A Multi-objective Optimization for Sizing and Placement of Voltage-controlled Distributed Generation Using Supervised Big Bang–Big Crunch Method

Abstract—This article presents an efficient multi-objective optimization approach based on the supervised big bang–big crunch method for optimal planning of dispatchable distributed generator. The proposed approach aims to enhance the system performance indices by optimal sizing and placement of distributed generators connected to balanced/unbalanced distribution networks. The distributed generation units in the proposed algorithms are modeled as a voltage-controlled node with the flexibility to be converted to a constant power node in the case of reactive power limit violation. The proposed algorithm is implemented in the MATLAB (The MathWorks, Natick, Massachusetts, USA) environment, and the simulation studies are performed on IEEE 69-bus and IEEE 123-node distribution test systems. Validation of the proposed method is done by comparing the results with published results obtained from other competing methods, and the consequent discussions prove the effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

Equity-based grid resilience: How do we get there?

The power system worldwide is facing challenges from a changing climate. Decision-makers are tasked with increasing the smartness and resilience of the energy infrastructure to reduce the negative impacts to customers, with the help of new technologies such as household renewable energy generators and electric vehicles. However, a largely overlooked topic is equity, and how the burdens and benefits of the power system are distributed to different communities. To fill this gap, this paper provides a thorough review of the implication of equity in the power system, the significance of guaranteeing energy equity both in everyday operation and disaster management, and the ongoing efforts to plan for equable resilience in various fields. Finally, a holistic power grid resilience enhancement framework is proposed that covers different stages of disaster management and different dimensions of energy equity.     

Heresy? The Case Against Deregulation of Electricity Generation

California's problems should make us face the facts that deregulation is an inherently risky course, that it increases capital costs, that control of market power and efficient transmission capacity expansion are still unsolved problems, and that governments are no more fit to deregulate than they are to regulate.     

Increasing-Block Electricity Tariff: How to Do the Right Thing Appropriately?

Increasing-block electricity tariff should not be confused with the increase of electricity tariffs. The fundamental of the increasing-block electricity pricing system is to mobilize the use value of electricity product, promote social equity, and ensure the right of people’s livelihood while saving natural resources and protecting the environment.     

Options for Improving Reliability: How Do They Impact Air Quality?

While reliability and clean air goals will not come into complete alignment overnight, a combination of voluntary, regulatory, and legislative approaches can successfully integrate energy and environmental concerns over time.     

How full is your glass?

Do you have a low boredom threshold? Perhaps you are walking too fast and trying to cram too much into your day? If you also eat quickly, finish others? sentences and look at your watch too often, you may need a Relaxation Room.     

The non-equilibrium Green’s function method: an introduction

We present an elementary introduction of the non-equilibrium Green’s function method, applied to stationary quantum transport in semiconductor nanostructures. This article provides an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the method.     

How to Realize Power Price Reduction in China?

In order to make power price truly reflect the cost of electric power and a reasonable profit without making the price unaffordab]e to the public,the government would have to adopt measures including t...