Originally Posted By: SeaJay
Often times the law of unintended consequences rears its head and something unfortunate happens. If I understand the OP's point, fossil fuel may be the thing that will solve the problems caused by the law of unintended consequences in this situation.
Given the agenda of the people behind the public policy that led to these unintended consequences, I think it is an excellent point that the OP raised with fossil fuel coming to the rescue.
Since the mid 50s, Oz had state "Electricity Commissions", whose role was to keep the lights on, cost effectively, and their M.O. was to install new plant, of the next generation and efficiency, basload it and use the older stuff as "peakers", wearing it out and retiring it.
'90s, under pressure (largely from the U.S.) we were all broken up, and sold (latter took time, last one in my state was sold just before Christmas, but was operating as a private company since 1995...focus ceased to be on lights on, and building new, efficient plant to bottom line drivers.
Tasmania...they burned all their water making money, with no regard for the drought, or the single contingency cable connecting them with the mainland...the water that they burned was 400MW per day exported to the mainland into the middle of Brown Coal cheapest electricity in the country.
Result is that the alternates (the gas plants) are flooded with cheap energy (in Tasmania), below their marginal costs, and plants are put into mothballs.
It's unintended consequences for sure, but very forseeable.
Often times the law of unintended consequences rears its head and something unfortunate happens. If I understand the OP's point, fossil fuel may be the thing that will solve the problems caused by the law of unintended consequences in this situation.
Given the agenda of the people behind the public policy that led to these unintended consequences, I think it is an excellent point that the OP raised with fossil fuel coming to the rescue.
Since the mid 50s, Oz had state "Electricity Commissions", whose role was to keep the lights on, cost effectively, and their M.O. was to install new plant, of the next generation and efficiency, basload it and use the older stuff as "peakers", wearing it out and retiring it.
'90s, under pressure (largely from the U.S.) we were all broken up, and sold (latter took time, last one in my state was sold just before Christmas, but was operating as a private company since 1995...focus ceased to be on lights on, and building new, efficient plant to bottom line drivers.
Tasmania...they burned all their water making money, with no regard for the drought, or the single contingency cable connecting them with the mainland...the water that they burned was 400MW per day exported to the mainland into the middle of Brown Coal cheapest electricity in the country.
Result is that the alternates (the gas plants) are flooded with cheap energy (in Tasmania), below their marginal costs, and plants are put into mothballs.
It's unintended consequences for sure, but very forseeable.
