Virginia can meet a legislative goal of cutting overall electric power usage by 10 percent over the coming 15 years, concludes a new study by the State Corporation Commission. The goal can be met by adopting market-based strategies such as “demand side management,” reports Garren Shipley with the Northern Virginia Daily.
The study spells out how conservation at periods of peak demand can lead to enormous economic efficiencies — reducing both fuel consumption and cutting costs. Writes Shipley:
Average demand in Virginia at any given time is about 13,000 megawatts, according to the report. But that number spikes by a factor of 2.5 during the hottest hours of the year. Because the grid has to be able to sustain the highest possible usage, utilities — and by extension their customers — wind up paying for a grid that can handle 32,500 megawatts all the time.
“These peak demands, which last for only about 100 hours per year, determine the required capacity of the utility infrastructure in Virginia,” the authors wrote. …
During a peak 28-hour demand period during August, the wholesale price of power paid by utility companies rose as high as $500 per megawatt-hour, according to the report. At its very peak, the price reached $1,000 per megawatt-hour. The average price is $57 per megawatt-hour.
The study, available here, makes a series of recommendations that would move Virginia towards a system that and equip and incentivize residential and commercial customers to shift electric consumption away from periods of peak demand.
