Transmission

With one summer under its belt as a member of PJM, ComEd has been called a complete success by some, boring by others. Using data from Energy Velocity's Market Ops and Weather products, we can see the impact of transmission and weather on ComEd this summer.

Robert Blohm's article, "Solving the Crisis in Unscheduled Power," ignores a significant part of the power-scheduling paradigm — that is, it ignores transmission. Every power schedule not only includes load and generation but also a path to move the electricity between those points.

As transmission operators are forced to deal with increasingly less comfortable margins of reliability, choices must be made about acceptable levels of risk. Essential to such determinations is the analysis of untapped operational and non-operational data.

Before billions are spent building new transmission lines to ensure reliable electric service, North American electric utilities should evaluate whether the alternatives — controlling demand and fostering distributed generation — might be more cost-effective and broadly beneficial.