They are usually uneconomically small and spend most of their time unused, representing wasted investment capital. Peakers are often expensive sources of electricity. In the United States, peakers usually burn natural gas, but sometimes diesel oil, heating oil, or other fuels. A third type of generating resource is a peaking plant, which can be switched on at the times of highest demand. Other types of generators, such as wind, solar, and hydroelectric plants, function every day, but their output varies with environmental conditions. This baseload power, constantly available, is usually the cheapest type of electricity. Some of these generators, such as big coal-fired plants and nuclear power stations, produce electricity at a steady rate, day in and day out. At its base are generating plants, ranging from windmills to nuclear reactors. The nation’s electrical system is an extremely complex network. These potential changes deserve a thorough airing before the United States commits to such large investments in the name of smartness. But these changes have the potential to saddle them with unnecessarily high prices, force them to bear unnecessary risks, and make their local utility company an uninvited participant in the intimate details of their everyday lives. The potential savings will justify the cost only if the smart grid brings sweeping changes in the way consumers use and pay for electricity.
#Smart grids benefits full
The cost will be high: Although the economic stimulus program approved by Congress last year included $4.5 billion to help create the smart grid, the full build-out will cost at least a couple of hundred billion dollars more.
#Smart grids benefits plus
Unfortunately, it is far from the unalloyed plus portrayed to the public. The smart grid has the potential to bring the United States a more stable, economical, and environmentally friendly electrical system. Propelled by promises of greater energy efficiency and reduced greenhouse gas emissions, the smart grid is on a roll. So have members of Congress from both parties and state utility regulators all over the country. electrical system came up with the name “smart grid.” The Obama administration has signed on. That presumably is why the proponents of some radical changes in the design of the U.S. It is hard to quarrel with the idea that it is good to be smart.
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