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October 21, 2003
Demand Side Bidding
It has been many years since I built some information systems for a power company. But Abiola reminded me with some terms I haven't heard in a while -Baseload, Intermediate and Peak. These are standard classifications of power generators that get their own P&L.
I happen to know that power generators who buy oil or natural gas watch those commodity futures years in advance and plan ahead. The ratio of baseload to intermediate to peak determines the price of power to customers. So it makes sense to me that any customer that is not buying long term power contracts is likely to get screwed. Peakers, in the case of the utility I was working for, were generally small generators that were not always online. They don't get as much maintenance and tend to be flaky. Consequently, the power they generate cost a lot more per MW.
If and when I start working again, I'll have the nerve to crank up my professional software and work out some models. These days I can't stand to look at the software. This Demand Side Bidding sounds interesting.
Posted by mbowen at October 21, 2003 11:13 PM
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� Demand Side Bidding from JohnHays.net
Cobb has an interesting post about demand side bidding concerning power companies. Here in the Northwest we have the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). The Northwest Power and Conservation Council has presented some recommendations to the BPA becau... [Read More]
Tracked on October 21, 2003 11:51 PM