Gerald, I think you are on target, but please put blame where it belongs,
not on the utilities who tried to build more generation (over-exuberantly,
in some cases) but on the ill advised public policy in some regions like the
upper midwest. Bad policy based on sentiment, not science, drove states
like Minnesota and Wisconsin to adopt positions of "No new power plants in
our state!" and so these states became energy importers as utilities turned
to South Dakota, which wanted some economic growth, and built power plants
in Sioux Falls, for example. Then in 1997 when several of the larger plants
in the region were down for maintenance and other problems, the energy
"well" was dry, and rolling blackouts became a real possibility. The
utilities took a bashing, but the root of the problem lay in the fact that
public policy makers dreamed that conservation would offset economic-based
growth in energy demand, and so the utility's plans for new generating
plants were rejected.
Air conditioning is a big part of Airstreaming for me, since my wife is the
opposite of you; she can't handle hot weather AT ALL and we have had a few
experiences where the hookup where we were staying couldn't handle the A/C
load. Believe me on a 90 degree F night with 90% humidity and no air moving,
the "Airstream experience" lost some of its luster for her. Hello Holiday
Inn. If you can perfect the propane powered or propane absorption A/C unit,
you will have contributed mightily to the mobile community.
Dr. Gerald N. Johnson wrote:
> Direct propane powered absorption units are probably more efficient than
> electric compressor, freon type air conditioners, and they don't use
> ozone damaging freon. Of course, an ammonia leak catches a lot more
> attention really FAST. More of the fuel of the direct fired absorption
> unit goes to the task than from an electric power plant. At the same
> time, all those individual units burning gas probably have a greater
> propensity to be out of adjustment wrecking efficiency and polluting
> more than the central power plant. And the entrenched electric utility
> wants to continue to supply electricity for that huge air conditioning
> load even though a truly hot day can bring it to its knees. Not having
> the air conditioning load would change the electric utility economics
> drastically. Since US electric utilities have failed (in the face of
> much opposition) to create new generation, it may be necessary in the
> next decade to abandon that reliance on electric power for air
> conditioning (which is a very "peaky" load) because the available power
> plants won't be able to support all the potential customers. Soon the
> statistics will be that the surplus generation of a decade ago has all
> been used up by load growth and the new generation in the past decade
> has been less than 1/10th the load growth. Since it can take a decade to
> build nuclear plants and half that to build coal or gas fired steam
> plants, there can only be periods when the power company falls on its
> knees from excess load. That will be happening sooner than many wish to
> admit. It may be that only the truly self sufficient factories and homes
> will be the ones not affected by such lack of planning. The rest will be
> hot, cold, and maybe hungry depending on the climate at their place and
> time.
>
> Wasting energy on air conditioning which tends to cause the nearby
> environment to be even hotter may not be an option under such failing
> power supplies. Competition in electric suppliers that makes the cost of
> electricity dependent on demand will tend to penalize those that cause
> the peak loads. There have been spot market prices for bulk electricity
> as much as thousands of times greater than normal when demand exceeds
> supply for a short time period. That can only get worse with increased
> demand. Read most any utility stock holder's reports from the past
> couple of years to see their complaints about those spot market peaks.
> As "deregulation for competition" reaches more states and utilities they
> will be able to pass those increased costs on to their customers.
> Southern California customers were threatening rebellion a day or two
> ago because of such effects doubling their power bills in the last
> month.
>
> Gerald J.
