Can wind be a "firm" resource? A North Carolina case study

Duke Environmental Law and Policy Forum

Volumn 15, Issue 2, 2005, Pages 341-381

  Hansen, Lena M ^a  

^a ROCKY MOUNTAIN INSTITUTE   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY; ENERGY RESOURCE; WIND POWER;

NORTH AMERICA; NORTH CAROLINA; UNITED STATES;

EID: 27944497434     PISSN: 10643958     EISSN: 10643958     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Review

References (141)

1. American Wind Energy Association, Wind Energy Frequently Asked Questions (2004), at http://www.awea.org/faq/instcap.html.
2. Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2004 (2004), at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/electricity.html.
3. See, e.g., Ronald Binz, Impact of a Renewable Energy Porfolio Standard on Retail Electric Rates in Colorado 5 (2004).
4. Business Week Online, Global Warming (Aug. 16, 2004), at http:// www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_33/b3896001_mz001.htm.
5. See, e.g., Progress Energy, Progress Energy Carolinas Resource Plan (2003) (North Carolina Utilities Commission, Docket No. E-100, Sub98).
6. Energy Information Administration, supra note 2.
7. J. Smith, et al. Wind Power Impacts on Electric Power System Operating Costs: Summary and Perspective on work to Date 2 (2004);
8. EnerNex Corporation, Xcel Energy, and the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Wind Integration Study-Final Report 17 (2004).
9. EnerNex Corporation, et al., supra note 7, at 17.
10. Brian Parsons, et al., Grid Impacts of Wind Power: A Summary of Recent Studies in the United States 2 (2003).
11. Id.
12. See, e.g., EnerNex Corporation, et al., supra note 7, at 17.
13. See, e.g., Id. at 15;
14. Smith, et al., supra note 7, at 1.
15. See, e.g., Smith, et al. supra note 7 at 1.
16. Duke Power, The Duke Power Annual Plan (2003) (North Carolina Utilities Commission, Docket No. E-100, Sub98);
17. Progress Energy, supra note 5.
18. Smith, et al., supra note 7, at 8.
19. Duke Power, supra note 14, at 33.
20. Id.
21. Progress Energy, supra note 5.
22. Michael Milligan, Modeling Utility-Scale Wind Power Plants Part 2: Capicity Credit (2002).
23. Id.
24. Id. at 12.
25. Brendan Kirby, et al., California Renewables Portfolio Standard Renewable Generation Integration Cost Analysis, Phase III: Recommendations for Implementation 17 (2004).
26. Carol Alexander, Handbook of Risk Management and Analysis (1996).
27. Id. at 172.
28. Id.
29. Milligan, supra note 19, at 40.
30. See Kai N. Lee, The Path Along the Ridge: Regional Planning in the Face of Uncertainty, 58 Wash. L. Rev. 317, 330 (1983) (arguing that portfolio diversification applied to Northwest power would reduce risk).
31. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Wind Resource: U.S. Wind Maps, at http://www.nrel.gov/wind/wind_map.html.
32. Id.
33. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, North Carolina Wind Resource Map (2003), at http://www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/windpoweringamerica/ maps_template.asp?stateab=nc (last visited Oct. 25, 2004).
34. Id.
35. Id.
36. Id.
37. Id.
38. Interview with Jeff Tiller, Director, Appalachian State University Energy Center (Aug. 28, 2004).
39. Id.
40. Id.
41. Telephone Interview with Simon Rich, Chairman, Carolina Green Energy (Sept. 3, 2004);
42. Telephone Interview with Rick Carson, Tennessee Valley Authority (Aug. 28, 2004).
43. GE Energy, GE Wind Energy Announces New Series of 2-Megawatt Class Wind Turbines (2003) available at http://www.gepower.com/about/press/en/ 2003_press/040803a.htm (noting that GE Wind Energy, one of the largest domestic producers of wind turbines, produces turbines capable of a range of hub heights from roughly 50 to 100 meters).
44. Rich, supra note 38.
45. Carson, supra note 38.
46. Id.
47. See, e.g., Progress Energy, supra note 5 (indicating that wind power is not a viable option for intermediate duty because of low expected 20-25% capacity factor).
48. U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office, Information Resources, Glossary, at http://www.eere.energy.gov/ consumerinfo/energyglossary.html#C.
49. Milligan, supra note 19.
50. Energy Information Administration, North Carolina Summary Statistics 2002 (2002) available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/ st_profiles/northr_carolina.pdf (last visited Nov. 1 2004).
51. Robert J. Michaels, Electric Utility Regulation, in The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics, Library of Economics and Liberty (2004) available at http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/ ElectricUtilityRegulation.html (last visited Mar. 6, 2005).
52. North Carolina Utilities Commission, Mission Statement available at http://www.ncuc.commerce.state.nc.us/overview/mission.htm (April 15, 2005).
53. North Carolina Utilities Commission, North Carolina Public Staff (1998) available at http://www.pubstaff.commerce.state.nc.us/psabout.htm (last visited Jul. 10, 2005).
54. North Carolina Utilities Commission, North Carolina Electric Utilities Overview (2003) available at http://ncucftp.commerce.state.nc.us/NCUC/ NCUCoverview.pdf (last visited Mar. 6, 2005).
55. Energy Information Administration, North Carolina Summary Statistics (2002), at http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/st_profiles/ northr_carolina.pdf (last visited Mar. 6, 2005).
56. Duke Energy, Energy 101: Glossary of Terms "Baseload plant", at http://www.duke-energy.com/company/energy101/glossary/B.asp (last visited Apr. 28, 2005).
57. Id.
58. Energy Information Administration, supra note 2. The EIA AEO 2004 reports that, in 2002, coal-fired generation accounted for roughly 2000 billion kWh and natural gas-fired for 685 billion kWh. The EIA EPA 2003 reports that net summer capacity in 2002 was 315,000 MW for coal and 171,000 MW for natural gas. Thus, natural gas capacity produced roughly half of possible power production, whereas coal produced substantially more.
59. Id.
60. Id.
61. As used in this Note, "penetration" refers to the percentage of wind in a utility's portfolio of resources.
62. American Wind Energy Association, Wind Industry Statistics, AWEA Wind Web Tutorial (2004), at http://www.awea.org/faq/tutorial/ wwt_statistics.html (last visited Mar. 6, 2005).
63. See, e.g. Kirby, et al., supra note 22, at 16.
64. Parsons, et al., supra note 9, at 2.
65. Eric Hirst, Interactions of Wind Farms with Bulk-Power Operations and Markets 1-2 (Prepared for Project for Sustainable FERC Energy Policy, Sept. 2001).
66. Id. at 1.
67. Smith, et al., supra note 7, at 7-9.
68. Id. at 1.
69. Id. at 3.
70. Kirby, et al., supra note 22, at 14-15.
71. Parsons, et al., supra note 9, at 2,
72. Eric Hirst, Integrating Wind Energy with the BPA Power System: Preliminary Study 3 (Prepared for BPA Power Business Line Sept. 2002).
73. Id.
74. Id.
75. Id. at 15.
76. Eric Hirst & Brendan Kirby, Ancillary Services: A Call for Fair Prices 2 (1999) available at http://www.ornl.gov/sci/btc/apps/ Restructuring/PUFRegLF.pdf (last visited Apr. 15, 2005).
77. Id.
78. Michael Rice, An Analysis of Purpa and Solar Energy (1980).
79. Smith, et al., supra note 7, at 9.
80. Id. at 8.
81. Id. at 9.
82. Id. at 5.
83. Id. at 5-6.
84. Electrotek Concepts, Inc., Quantifying System Operation Impacts of Integrating Bulk Wind Generation at We Energies 1 (Presented at POWER-GEN Renewable Energy 2004, Las Vegas, Nevada, Mar. 2004).
85. Id. at 8.
86. Id. at 2.
87. Milligan, supra note 19, at 4.
88. Id.
89. Hirst, supra note 61, at 21.
90. Id.
91. Id.
92. Id.
93. Hirst, supra note 68, at 19.
94. Id.
95. Id.
96. Milligan, supra note 19, at 11.
97. Id. at 13.
98. Kirby, et al., supra note 22, at 1.
99. Milligan, supra note 19, at 12.
100. Kirby, et al., supra note 22, at 14.
101. Id.
102. EnerNex Corporation, Characterization of the Wind Resource in the Upper Midwest: Wind Integration Study 4 (2004).
103. Id. at 39.
104. Electric Power Research Institute, U.S. Dept. of Energy, Handbook of Energy Storage for Transmission and Distribution Applications 15-30, 11-17, 10-19, 8-21 (2003).
105. Vestas, V82-1.65 MW Pitch Regulated Wind Turbine with OptiSlip and OptiTip (2004) available at http://www.vestas.com.
106. N.C. Utilities Comm'n, supra note 49.
107. Id.
108. Duke Power reports in personal interviews that its summer peaks have occurred on July 30, 2002, August 27, 2003, and July 14, 2004. The peak with the largest magnitude, on July 30, 2002, occurred at 5:00 pm. Duke Power also reports its winter peaks on January 3, 2001 at 8:00 am, January 24, 2003, and January 20, 2004.
109. Duke Power Interviews, supra note 104.
110. Vestas, supra note 101.
111. See, e.g., Progress Energy, supra note 5;
112. Duke Power, The Duke Power Annual Plan (2003).
113. Eric Hirst, Bonneville Power Administration, Integrating Wind Energy with the BPA Power System: Preliminary Study (2002).
114. Id.
115. See Figure 27.
116. Milligan, supra note 19, at 12.
117. See, e.g., Smith, et al., supra 7, at 5.
118. Kirby, supra note 22.
119. Id. at 23.
120. Id.
121. Id.
122. Id. at 31.
123. Id. at 38.
124. Id.
125. Id. at 24.
126. Id.
127. Duke Power, supra note 107.
128. In terms of capacity credit, energy storage is used to create blocks of "firm" power, thus the unit commitment time scale. Electric Power Research Institute, supra note 100, at 15-30, 11-17, 10-19, 8-21.
129. Id.
130. Bonneville Power Administration, Fast Facts, at http://www.bpa.gov/ corporate/about_BPA/Facts/FactDocs/BPA_Facts_2004.pdf (last visited Apr. 28, 2005).
131. Id.
132. Id. at 1.
133. Id.
134. Id.
135. Id. at 2.
136. Id. at 2.
137. See Bonneville Power Administration, The Columbia River System Inside Story 5 (2001) available at http://www.bpa.gov/power/pg/ columbiav_river_inside_story.pdf.
138. America Wind Energy Association, Wind Industry Statistics (2004) available at http://www.awea.org/faq/tutorial/wwt_statistics.html.
139. See Mark D. Jackson, Energy: The Battle of Economy vs. Ecology available at http://www.science.fau.edu/chemistry/mdj/chm3085/energy.prn.pdf.
140. 26 U.S.C. § 45 (2000).
141. Smith, et al., supra note 7, at 8.