Re: Wacky Weekend: NERC to relax power grid frequency strictures

["Matthew Black" <black () csulb edu>]

On Fri, 24 Jun 2011 18:29:14 -0400
 Jay Ashworth <jra () baylink com> wrote:
> The North American Electric Reliability Council is planning to relax
> the standards for how closely power utilities must hold to 60.00Hz.
>
> Here's my absolute favorite quote of all time:
>
>  Tweaking the power grid's frequency is expensive and takes a lot of 
> effort, 
>  said Joe McClelland, head of electric reliability for the Federal Energy 
>  Regulatory Commission.


I blinked too after hearing of this. They say it's an economic issue because 
it costs millions of dollars to maintain a steady frequency. Excuse me...we 
probably spend over $50 billion per year on electricity and they're 
complaining about a few million. Talk about pinching pennies!

matthew black
e-mail postmaster
california state university, long beach