LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME


[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]

Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

Get weekly updates
RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Stripe

Donate via Paypal

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

News Watch Home

Grid operator tells Shumlin state knows why wind energy cutoff is required 

Credit:  by Andrew Stein | August 7, 2013 | vtdigger.org ~~

The CEO of ISO New England, the regional power grid operator, told Gov. Peter Shumlin this week that Green Mountain Power has known for “nearly two years” that the northern Vermont grid is in no shape to fully handle its 21-turbine Lowell Mountain Wind Project.

Gordon van Welie’s Tuesday letter indicated that it should be no surprise to Shumlin or to GMP that ISO sometimes cuts back power production at the 64.5 megawatt Kingdom Community Wind (KCW) project. And he said that a piece of equipment aimed at mitigating the curtailments would not prevent the power cuts completely.

“GMP’s decisions regarding the location, design, construction, and interconnection of its KCW project have resulted directly in the need for ISO to curtail the project’s output in order to maintain reliability,” he wrote. “GMP has known for nearly two years that absent certain required upgrades to the transmission system the output of KCW would be exposed to curtailment. GMP has also known that even after the required upgrades were completed, the output of KCW may still be subject to curtailment because of the project’s location and interconnection point.”

Van Welie’s message to Shumlin is a direct response to a letter the governor sent last month, urging the operator to stop curtailing Lowell during peak demand times. Shumlin’s letter was sparked by those curtailments, and as ISO ordered GMP to fire up diesel and jet-fuel generators across the state. For more on this issue, read here.

Grid officials have repeatedly said that Lowell is tied into a particularly weak point in the grid with low demand and other large renewable energy generators, such as Hydro-Quebec and the Sheffield wind project. Van Welie contends that curtailing the project did not directly result in more carbon-intensive energy production.

“In this case, curtailing KCW actually allowed more power to be supplied from other renewable resources in the area and not older fossil-fueled generation as your letter suggests,” he wrote. “Because of its location, KCW was competing with other wind and hydropower resources for limited space on the transmission system. As GMP knows, while the transmission system in the area where it chose to interconnect can reliably serve the demand for power, it was not designed to accommodate additional generation resources.”

While Shumlin was not available to comment on the situation, deputy commissioner of the Public Service Department Darren Springer, spoke for the administration.

“On the particulars of Lowell between GMP and ISO New England, there appears to be some differences of opinion,” Springer said. “But for the Public Service Department and regulators, we’re looking at how to have good policy on this moving forward. We’re going to look to make sure that we know … how future projects will be able to operate.”

In Shumlin’s letter, the governor also urged ISO to include small renewable energy projects in its planning, and Van Welie said the grid operator is looking for ways to account for more widely distributed generators.

Springer said doing so could reduce growing electric costs for Vermonters – an issue that is beginning to emerge.

“We appreciate the need to account for distributed generation in the load forecast, which can save transmission construction and save ratepayers’ money,” he said.

Source:  by Andrew Stein | August 7, 2013 | vtdigger.org

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Contributions
   Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)
Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI M TG TS G Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook Wind Watch on Linked In

Wind Watch on Mastodon Wind Watch on Truth Social

Wind Watch on Gab Wind Watch on Bluesky