Application of Broadcast FM for Utility Energy Management Communications
Technological and economic aspects of various approaches to electric utility Energy Management communications for remote control are discussed. Communication systems employing radio frequency (RF) transmission techniques are treated in some detail with comparisons being made between narrow- band VHF transmitter systems, those systems utilizing a portion of AM broadcast radio channels and systems using a portion of FM broadcast radio channels. Finally, typical utility energy management applications of these-systems are discussed.
Electric power load management: Some technical, economic, regulatory and social issues
This paper provides a review of the subject of electric power load management. In Section I, we briefly introduce the topic and then provide a summary of the current operating characteristics of electric energy production and delivery (EEPD) systems. Section II places load management in the context of the broader set of energy management strategies available to EEPD systems. The organization and rationale of the paper is then explained. In Section III, we review the set of communication/control technologies available or under development for use in the implementation of load management in EEPD systems. We provide an assessment of the relative attractiveness of alternative technologies, a brief summary description of a major field demonstration being jointly funded by EPRI and DOE, and two examples which illustrate the state of the art in modern two-way systems. In Section IV, we review the conventional approach to U.S. electric rate design, describe the current national Electric Utility Rate Design Study, review some important basic ideas of microeconomics, explore the subject of price elasticity of demand, examine the basic ideas underlying marginal cost pricing, discuss some of the practical difficulties of implementing time dependent rates, briefly examine some foreign rate design experience, and conclude by summarizing a number of U.S. rate design experiments sponsored by NSF and by FEA (now DOE). Section V is devoted to an examination of the problems of finding manageable loads in the residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation sectors. Particular attention is given to the development of thermal storage systems for water heating, space heating, and space cooling. Section VI is devoted to summarizing a number of studies which have attempted to assess the short- and long-term economic impacts of load management. The state of the field is such that few definitive cost/benefit statements can be made at this time. A number of potential social impacts are discussed and some broad regulatory policy guidelines are suggested. Finally, in Section VII, we highlight conclusions reached in the five preceeding sections, and identify a number of research and policy needs.
The social costs of producing electric power from coal: A first-order calculation
A methodology is discussed for quantitatively computing the social costs, or external diseconomies, which result from the production of electric power in conventional coal-fired steam electric plants. With the available data, and our present level of understanding, it is possible to obtain preliminary numbers which place the social cost for the technology of the mid and late 1960's at ≥ 11.5 ±2 mills/kWh, somewhat more than the price of bulk power at the plant bus bar. In applying controls to limit the social costs, control costs are incurred. If the optimum level of control is taken as that level at which the sum of the social costs and the control costs is minimum, then we estimate the total social and control costs with optimum control as ≥4.5 ± 1.5 mills/kWh and the costs of controlling to that level as ≥3 ± 1 mills/kWh. These numbers will probably be reduced, and the optimum levels for control increased, as new technologies are developed. The paper is limited to a straightforward development of social costs. No attempt is made to develop policy implications or to draw broad conclusions on the basis of the costs which are derived.