September 09, 2008
Stay Awake for the Brownouts
by Paul Jacob
Years ago, I would actually listen to lectures by economists on how the electric grid might function better. Pretty much only one thing remains in my head, the conclusion: Regulatory agencies and government-run electrical companies tend to be very inefficient when it comes to capitalizing their enterprises.
Have you nodded off, yet?
Sorry. There’s always been something a bit boring about these discussions. But the subject matter is really worth staying awake for.
Why?
Well, experts predict that in as soon as three years, Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland — the area where I live — will be enduring rolling brownouts.
It’s not the fault of PJM, the already-regulated electric transmission company servicing the area. It’s the fault of members of Virginia’s State Corporation Commission and Maryland’s Public Service Commission.
Yes, ever more people are moving into the area. But the officials in charge of allowing new electric infrastructure to be set in place are refusing to grant permission to lay down the miles of new high-voltage electric lines the increasing demand requires.
What’s their rationale? Board members say they need more studies. Bureaucrats love studies. Could it be that friends and family and business partners of the board would be amongst those doing the studies?
I bet economists would have a less incendiary explanation. But the upshot is clear. Bureaucracies can be dangerously slow institutions to rest progress upon.
Paul Jacob's "Common Sense" is published by the Sam Adams Alliance. Their website can be visited at www.samadamsalliance.org.
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Comments
please understand what you are writing about before you comment - the grid is rock solid - the PJM "fear stategy" of "build the grid or else the lights will go out" is a bunch of garbage...building a new trans line is about bring cheaper power from the west and trans builders making money - follow the money trail - it leads back to AEP, APS, COMED AND Duke, all poised to make big $$$ from the new trans line - WE DONT NEED IT AND THERE WILL BE NO BLACKOUTS!
Posted by: joe mac | September 10, 2008 03:10 PM
load growth has taken off because of the housing boom which is now bust....very hot summer this year and little if any need for additional transmission - people are conserving more and using less - money would be better spent on alternative generation like wind, solar or nuclear - why should we (taxpayers) fund a $2billion trans line?
Posted by: jim | September 10, 2008 03:13 PM
The same anti-regulation premise you started with led to huge profits for Duke, Enron, et al in California when it deregulated while leading to, you guessed it, brown outs and rolling black outs.
Deregulation is not the answer. Increasing employee ownership of industry might be, although this is hard in the area in question given the primary employer. The employee owners would then buy up stock in the local utilities and communication companies, so that regulatory control can be replaced in time with a form of democratic control that is non-coercive in the governmental sense but still looks out for customer interest (with the goal of each employee owning enough of these stocks in their portfolio - utility workers would also own some of it, but not all - to get free service in retirement.
Posted by: Michael Bindner | September 10, 2008 10:08 PM