22 Replies to “We Don’t Need No …”

  1. Yes, that was a very good presentation, from an engineering point of view, but imagine a typical politician listening to the stream of engineering jargon. Their eyes would glaze over, they would be polite, clap and say “Thank you” and then go immediately back to their nuanced machinations driven by agenda, not reason. That is why the “smart meters” project never had a cost analysis. That is why solar and wind were subsidized so heavily without any thought to long term stability issues.

  2. Smart meters never had a cost analysis? Apparently nothing had a cost analysis. Start building nuclear where it’s needed and screw the grid. We Albertans are paying billions for building transmission lines because the powers that be are too stupid to build generating capacity where it’s needed. Did I hear that out of phase solar power is being put on the grid? Isn’t that providing no net benefit for an outrageous cost simply to gain green votes?

  3. We consume hydro power here in BC. Currently paying $0.125/kwh. 5 years ago we were paying $0.089/kwh CDN$. That is all cost in, including taxes. Roughly a 40% increase over 5 years.
    Needless to say I do the environmentally unfriendly thing by burning more wood in my stove!

  4. Power cost in Maui, last I checked, was roughly 0.385/kwh in USA$. Convert to CDN$ that rate would be roughly 0.481/kwh or +/- 380% more than what I currently pay. Canadians should seriously think about their power choices going forward.

  5. This was a good although shallow primer on a difficult topic. I’m impressed by the caliber of the audience and it’s participation in the q & A. I’d have thought that the analysis was a whole lot more complete than it appears to be though. I would agree that the colocation of generation and the loads it drives would be a far more practical solution than trying to compensate distribution lines with all the problems that entails. Well done to the presenters!

  6. Smart meters allowing eco-activists to cut off power to a household they feel are not doing anything on this phonie Climate Change

  7. “Did I hear that out of phase solar power is being put on the grid” Scar
    They where to kind. You put noise on the Grid & the Grid must dissipate that noise.. That warms up all the components in the system, that is called WASTE…We just need to design big waste buckets.

  8. I can only hope that we keep track of all those that sold us this “green” scam and, when the dust settles and we finally disentangle ourselves from this BS, we assign them persona non grata status so that they will never be listened to again.

  9. I live in BC and as hydro went up … I burned a lot more wood. I am not trying to save the planet …. just trying to save some money.

  10. Alta-Link straight into Warren Buffet’s back pocket.
    Kraft-Heinz-DQ, avoid that too.

  11. The effect of (3) third & (5) fifth harmonic distortion of electrical power is explained with this link.. (The reference to 3rd & magnetic recording applies to Analog levels. Digital record level is not necessarily determined by THD)
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonics_(electrical_power)
    The addition of Solar & wind into source generation will have profound consequences unless effective Standards are set (found) & enforced. Thermal stressing “may” not be imperially derived in large systems. but IMHO thermal overload will destroy the whole system
    Example: The OLD method of thermal stressing in a lab is to place the electrical device in an OVEN, connect all Inputs & Outputs & power. The functionality is monitored as the oven temperature is increased in incremental steps until the device fails. The device may fail gently or suddenly. What is absolutely certain is that the device is destroyed. You can’t just replace the failed components.
    JMHO

  12. Maui pays more per kilowatt hour in part because they need to use less power.
    The fixed costs are larger.

  13. I live in BC and as hydro went up … I burned a lot more wood. I am not trying to save the planet …. just trying to save some money.
    LOL. Do you remember the ad on Seattle TV for an oil change franchise that showed 1960s protestors demonstrating? It had a voiceover that went “We don’t want to change the world. We just want to change your oil.”

  14. I’m sure there was plenty of political cost analysis. Oh and chummy chum pals lining up cheering them on, bank accounts prepped.

  15. I have on occasion explained to people that power generators must synchronize to the
    grid. It is easy enough to explain the concept of three phase AC, but harmonics
    may be a but much for the low information types to grasp.
    The concept of line frequency is simple enough, so if I use a term like disharmony
    Joe Sixpack may be able to understand this.

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