RK ARCHIVE - Here's my recommendation for Rep. Jim Moran

Moran should instead, entertain the idea to his constituents in the city of Alexandria, its Mayor & council, and its local utility provider, about making the city the smartest city on the east coast.

Hmm, sound interesting?
1. Promote legislation for the city of Alexandria to become the first smart grid city on the east coast. Check out this brief video of Xcel Energy's plan for Boulder Colorado, from this website. (Hat-tip to The Clean Energy Digest blog). While this may seem a bit selfish compared to Moran's noble plan to drawn down the SPR, putting a smart grid proposal like this in the DC Metro area, would have a huge impact in this every important region.

The advantages are saving on one's utility bill and a real impact to help clean the environment through decrease consumption. This is made possible through the the power of digitally managed electricity without any inconvenience or cost*. Its implementation here would be a significant boost for the smart grid's PR campaign, which can become Moran's credit. Very few people know about the smart grid and even less of what Xcel is doing. Heck Dominion's own recent smart grid proposal, a very significant proposal I might add, received very little fanfare in the local media.

The city could help subsidize the advanced implementation of this initiative through its local utility provider, with a small tax and/or through a tax credit to the utility. The financial burden would certainly pay for itself in the long run and everyone will benefit from a more intelligent grid. Heck the city could even apply for DOE's EERE funding. It would also build a very beneficial bridge between adversaries, big energy and the city, which would set a fine example of partnership, so desperately needed especially with what is in store.

2. Begin a special fund to provide future incentives to qualified businesses and homeowners, to have installed pv solar roofing, and/or electric plug-in vehicles. The city of San Francisco just initiated a plan late last month (minus the plug-ins).

When the smart grid is implemented, end-users' generation and storage sources such as pv solar and plug-ins, will allow the city of Alexandria to become more self-sustaining and less dependent on imported electricity from Dominion Power, once the 65ish year old Mirant coal plant is shutdown sometime in the not too distant future. The smart grid will help reduce the forces behind rising electric rates, decrease the use of fossil fuels to generate electricity, payback end-users with energy credits, and serve more customers needs w/o turning to Dominion Power as often.

The east coast needs something like this. Its concept isn't publicized and as of now, it is just like most other alternative energy pilots, stuck out west far from our reality way out here in the east. Besides, the smart grid has no geographic limitations unlike most renewables. And an old congested powergrid is the equivalent for the smart grid, as west Texas is for wind.

Education in EEC is incredibly lacking, even while it tops the list of strategies which to implement Gov. Kaine's energy plan. What could be better for Energy Efficiency and Conservation than a Smart Grid here in the DC Metro area?

Alexandria is a small enough city, so it shouldn't be too terribly difficult to implement or expensive, after all its' population is 128,000 while Boulder is 91,000 not counting the student-body of the University of Colorado (28,000+). Its citizen are every bit of as educated, affluent and energy conscience as those in Boulder I would imagine. And its economy is somewhat diverse and healthy. The city leans heavily Democratic and rests right under the nose of our Congress - what a way to grab their attention Jim!

All combined, this makes the city of Alexandria, the perfect example to become the east coast's first smart electrical city. One problem, Jim Moran is not my congressional rep. Is he yours?

Comments

This is interesting (Lowell - 7/14/2008 10:36:09 AM)

From the Piedmont Environmental Council:

The Same Old Story From Dominion: "Trust Us"
Dear Lowell,
Last week the transmission line crew went back to Richmond for another day of duking it out with Dominion, Allegheny and PJM. This hearing focused on the results of a recent power auction that showed increased generation and demand response on the east coast. The Hearing Examiner requested an analysis of how that auction affects any need for the line.
Dominion ran tests, PJM ran tests and we ran tests. Needless to say, we couldn't agree on the results (although Dominion agreed that power flows to New York contribute significantly to the alleged need for the line).
Given the Choice of Spending $1 Billion or $50 Million, Dominion Would Choose $1 Billion
The utility case is simple: they failed a test (a test they designed) and failing that test is proof that they should get to build a transmission line. We showed that if Dominion's test scenarios were ever to happen in real life, the problem could be remedied with between $2 and $50 million dollars of power purchases from existing power plants. Dominion argued that the less expensive solution doesn't meet their planning criteria. In other words, even though cost-effective, low-impact solutions are available, Dominion still wants to spend a billion dollars, affecting communities and land from Pennsylvania to Virginia.
SCC Examiner Will Make His Recommendation Soon
We've done everything we can to provide the State Corporation Commission with expertise and an alternative view. We believe our case is the strongest, our experts are the most credible, and that the evidence supports a denial of the line. But we are up against Dominion. And on a sobering note, the SCC staff indicated they are content to trust Dominion's planning criteria as they have always done in the past, and they are willing to trust PJM's planning criteria. The decision now rests with the Hearing Examiner and then the Commissioners of the State Corporation Commission. The Hearing Examiner indicated he will make his recommendation soon, most likely before August.
It's been two years and we are approaching the decision point. I'll let you all know as soon as we hear anything.
Bri West
Piedmont Environmental Council
bwest@pecva.org
1-540-347-2334
p.s. Dominion is finally starting to push for some of the conservation & efficiency measures we've been asking for this whole time. The company will apply soon to the SCC for permission to invest in Smart Grid technology (advanced meters), air conditioning cycling, incentives for energy audits and more. See the Press Release

Yes, those developments were born out of PJM's auction for Maryland (floodguy - 7/14/2008 11:32:20 AM)

The PEC has done an overall fabulous job, from mobilization (although it initially missed its mark early in the process) and in the legal arena. They have an very good expert on EEC who's report is posted on PEC's website.

When this development surface early last month, the first thing came to mind was transmission congestion. The entire transmission line which intends to facilitate Dominion's infamous Mt. Storm coal station, serves several purposes, to what degree I really don't know.

1. generation retirement in the DC metropolitan area.
2. generation retirement along i-95 north of DC up to NYC
3. These two developments, decreased generation in the eastern load centers, create transmission congestion which is both very costly, environmentally unfriendly and threatens grid security.

Imagine more and more of the i-95 population centers having a mass exodus of its labor force. That is what the decommissioning of older power plants in the east has on the power grid. Renewables are insufficient in baseline capacity, availability, and reliability (minus a smart grid), aside with the fact most will need transmission connections. The only option left for state regulators is to import the power. This is the equivalent of eastcoast cities requesting the same amount of labor from the western PJM territory, to meet their economic needs.

Under this example, every existing transportation route between the labor sources in Ohio, western PA, Virginia and West Virginia (western PJM) and these east coast cities, would become terribly congested if not crippling. Such is the case with existing transmission. The Loudoun line is one of five (I kid you not) new extra-high voltage transmission lines proposed since this joint Dominion-Allegheny line in 2006. This is the issue revealed from the Energy Policy Act of 2005, post August 2003 Northeast Blackout, which was later summed up via the DOE OE's Congestion Study in August of 2006.

Clean air laws are helping to force old powerplants out of the market and keeping new ones from being constructed. Right or wrong, I don't know but this is what is happening. Nothing is allowing the markets to replace the old with new, while meeting forecasted increases in overall demand.

Being that the problem had a long time to develop, correcting it takes just as long. And since the i-95 corridor is an extremely vital region to the nation as a whole, grid security is the DOE's responsbility which they have placed on the PJM, and FERC intends to make sure its kept that way, via eminent domain authority if needed. Reliability standards have been raised and this aspect is something that needs to be fulfilled. That's the PJM argument.

I'm waiting patiently to see its outcome. It will have huge implications for the entire industry. Btw, the states of CA and AZ still have reach no agreement in their similar transmission squabble. It too has its own national transmission corridor designation.

No new baseline generation, no new transmission, what the heck is left? *SMART GRID*

Yurts (tx2vadem - 7/14/2008 12:48:55 PM)

"What the heck is left?" - A. Lots and lots of Yurts. And maybe a smart grid too. =)

But there will be new baseload generation and there will be new transmission. America's urban areas will demand it. Eminent Domain will be used if necessary. And it will strengthen the divide between America's urban and rural populations. Because who really wants high voltage transmission lines crossing your otherwise pristine land. If we want wind and solar to be dominant players, that is what it will mean. High voltage transmission from the plains and Southwest to our coasts.

As an aside, every time I hear Mt. Storm, I think of Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain.

Clarification (Eric - 7/14/2008 10:56:09 AM)

Regarding Jim Moran, I don't believe he was saying that he has legislation or any specific plan to sell off SPR for funding - he was merely putting forth a concept.

I still think it's an intriguing idea if the Government doesn't/can't come up with drastically more funding to address energy related problems. However, as Lowell says, if they don't come up with funding through other means it says they aren't serious about the problem. But no point in beating this dead horse as we've worn this topic out.

As to your suggestion... absolutely! It sounds like smart grids can make a major contribution toward the solution (although far from the only one) and we should be moving on this just as much as moving on many other fronts in this battle.

The opportunity is there (floodguy - 7/14/2008 11:44:32 AM)

Dominion is currently crafting its $600 million proposal. Surely they could shift more of those assets to Alexandria's grid if it will net greater gains in the future. B/n improving its PR within the state, it will inform its customers, perhaps even lead to some jealousy amongst other cities left out.

Throw in some federal funding, some state funds, some tax breaks to utilities, a donation from Mirant, a small tax on businesses & residents (sorry), and Alexandria is one its way to forevering being the greenest city in the east.

Start those EEC incentives funds today, so there will be enough funds to give the incentive to the end-users in combination with any federal incentives which will surely surfac. Co-generation and storage plus new smart appliances and smart devices installed on non-residential appliances, means money for both the end-user and for the utility in the long-term.

Furthermore, the smart grid will mean more real availability of green power for the cities utility customers. Renewable generation can be best implemented via a smart grid. Without, the market profitability is less. With a more intelligence grid, city utility customers and the utility could better manage the fluctuations from intermittent renewables, providing the opportunity for long-term power contracts with renewable resource providers. Wow, if you are a wind farm generator, and you just got your first long-term power contract, making you profitable, you're now out seeking more investments to build more.

With the east coast's first smart grid, Alexandria will forever be at the top of the list of green cities with comparitively lower utility costs then its neighbors. Is that something worthwhile to the city's future? I think its worthwhile to our region, to Dominion, the state, and the PJM's east coast power industry as a whole.