Corvallis to Richland and back 1

13 Comments

  1. Rod,

    Next time, you need to make sure to tour the Northwest’s only Nuclear Power Plant!!

  2. I drove I-84 once more or less by accident; I’d been heading south from Washington trying to see Crater Lake, but the weather was not good and I couldn’t find any reports for the area.  I gave up and headed east on I-84, back towards Michigan.  Not only did I get to see Craters Of The Moon, I caught some interesting attractions by the roadside as well.

  3. @JohnGalt

    So if they have a surplus of power, why do they need the electricity generated from wind? After all, that power is subsidized with payments from all US taxpayers to the tune of $23 per megawatt-hour.

    1. BPA does not own or operate the wind turbines, but they are forced to purchase the power that the turbines produce, whether they want it or not.

  4. BPA has been exporting power long as I can remember, and no-doubt much longer than that. I toured Bonneville thirty years ago, was awe struct by the display describing the Pacific Direct Current Intertie: 800 kV DC, Columbia River to L.A.

    And those power plots — look at the ramp rates of Columbia River hydro!

    Must be nice…

    1. Ed, yes the load graph is fascinating, including the hydro ramp rate. The graph contains a textbook full of info. It illustrates the load curve every utility must cope with, two daily M thru F peaks and the weekend load drop. Everybody wants day shift work and weekends off. Imagine Trojan was still in the mix; what would it look like then? Or imagine a utility coping with it without hydro, which might be the norm. And then there is that pesky wind peak on the 23rd at min load, not to mention the whole weekend wind peak. Maybe it’s a simple Load Dispatcher problem. Why do they let the wind blow when they don’t need the power? Or better yet, why do they buy it? As an operator, if I was chasing that load demand curve with a load following nuke plant, I think I’d have a totally different relationship with Xe. Good thing it rains all the time there; keeps the dams full for the hydro and doesn’t add solar to the confusion. I guess we’re lucky we have 50 different state utility commissions regulating, and fossil fuel prices don’t affect the mix; or political agendas either. Can’t even imagine a better way to supply a product that’s considered a luxury in most parts of the world.

  5. I find it interesting that EL and “JohnGalt” are playing tag team in the article comments. You see one or the other, but not both. Could this be “JohnGalt”‘s homework assignment before he’s assigned to some other website by the oil & gas public relations people?

      1. Notice how both EL and JohnGalt refer to the rest of the people participating in this conversation in the second or third person? Neither one says “we.”

        1. @Rod Adams

          Huh?

          Why would I accuse myself of something I am not doing. Your comment makes no sense (grammatical or otherwise).

Comments are closed.

Recent Comments from our Readers

  1. Avatar
  2. Avatar
  3. Avatar
  4. Avatar
  5. Avatar

Similar Posts