Unum
2024-07-23 19:54:54 UTC
https://www.nrdc.org/press-releases/coal-plants-earned-1-billion-knocking-cheaper-midwest-wind-offline-0
customers throughout the central United States paid more than $1 billion in
excess energy costs and lost out on nearly 400 megawatts of wind capacity
between 2021 and 2023 because of practices that allow coal plants to rig power
markets and crowd out cheaper resources.
For years, experts have drawn the same conclusion: expensive coal routinely
runs while losing money, saddling customers with excess costs in the process.
Uneconomic dispatch happens for a number of reasons that all come back to coal
owners' ability to supply power to the grid more or less at their own
discretion - regardless of cost or rules.
The new research, conducted by Grid Strategies for NRDC and based on publicly
available power plant data, shows for the first time that uneconomic coal not
only runs when it should not, but cuts the line to push cleaner, cheaper
resources out of the market. The excess costs harm consumers throughout the
MISO power grid – a 15-state territory running from through the middle of the
nation – but are most significant in Louisiana, Indiana, and North Dakota.
customers throughout the central United States paid more than $1 billion in
excess energy costs and lost out on nearly 400 megawatts of wind capacity
between 2021 and 2023 because of practices that allow coal plants to rig power
markets and crowd out cheaper resources.
For years, experts have drawn the same conclusion: expensive coal routinely
runs while losing money, saddling customers with excess costs in the process.
Uneconomic dispatch happens for a number of reasons that all come back to coal
owners' ability to supply power to the grid more or less at their own
discretion - regardless of cost or rules.
The new research, conducted by Grid Strategies for NRDC and based on publicly
available power plant data, shows for the first time that uneconomic coal not
only runs when it should not, but cuts the line to push cleaner, cheaper
resources out of the market. The excess costs harm consumers throughout the
MISO power grid – a 15-state territory running from through the middle of the
nation – but are most significant in Louisiana, Indiana, and North Dakota.
