:angry: I had mentioned electricity prices in Alberta since deregulation in another post, and then I started get mad....I have to explain what the heck is going on in Alberta since ol Ralphy decided deregulation was the way to go. Right now most people are on what is called the rr or regulated rate, this is right around the $.60/kwh. Prices for power, or what the Alberta Electrical System Operator is purchasing at, is around the $.50/kwh. I've brought in some data from the AESO web page showing the daily avg price for Aug 2004.....stinky hot months are generally the highest avg
Daily Average Pool Price Report
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Date Daily Average ($/MWh) Price Difference ($)
09/01/2004 57.53 30.41
08/31/2004 87.93 1.46
08/30/2004 86.47 57.68
08/29/2004 28.80 9.85
08/28/2004 18.94 14.14
08/27/2004 33.09 3.34
08/26/2004 29.74 9.21
08/25/2004 38.95 14.58
08/24/2004 24.37 10.67
08/23/2004 35.04 17.51
08/22/2004 52.55 10.02
08/21/2004 42.53 10.27
08/20/2004 52.79 4.95
08/19/2004 47.85 16.51
08/18/2004 64.36 20.02
08/17/2004 84.38 28.85
08/16/2004 55.53 12.73
08/15/2004 42.80 1.52
08/14/2004 41.28 28.82
08/13/2004 70.10 8.37
08/12/2004 78.47 26.55
08/11/2004 51.93 7.11
08/10/2004 44.82 4.45
08/09/2004 40.37 28.26
08/08/2004 12.11 4.13
08/07/2004 16.24 27.03
08/06/2004 43.27 3.25
08/05/2004 46.53 11.58
08/04/2004 58.10 41.05
08/03/2004 99.15 33.02
08/02/2004 66.13 5.57
08/01/2004 60.56 26.42
So, if you run the numbers, the price the AESO is paying for power is around the 50 MWH mark, or .50 kwH mark.......where is the $.10/kwh going? its not going into system upgrades, as these are the responsibility of the retailers (Enmax) etc. Look on your bill, line tariffs, system upgrade fees, along with the price of power.
The way the power system works in alberta is a pool bidding system. Each plant bids in its power in blocks ie 50 MW at 0 dollars, another 50 mw at $40.00 and so on. As the electrical load increases, each block is called up as req...the last block called would be the block setting the price. Clear as mud....... All the coal generators are going to bid blocks in the 0 dollar amount, 'cause these units cannot simply turn on and off....its a big deal to get these big bitches running after a trip. I'm starting to ramble.....back to my point.....so know we KNOW that we are getting ripped off on power.....the price charged to us does not float like natural gas, and there is so much power in this province right now that a monthly avg over the rate of $.60 is highly unlikely........then to top it off is the new power line. You see, there is a lot of stranded power in northern alberta, from the cogen units running in fort mac, the main line running to southern alberta is dangerously overloaded, and the govt knows this. So much so, they put out bids just after deregulation for more local based power in the South.....and they succeeded. There is a 120 MW plant in Balzac, there is a 250 MW plant 1 mile from that one, just on the northern calgary city limits. There is an 80 MW plant in Carseland, and there is another 120 MW plant just outside of strathmore....lots of power, but guess what, because the price of power is so low right now, these plants cannot run without a loss. So what does the govt do? do they pass on the extra $.10 to these plants to they can run...nope....they let the system destabilize in the calgary area so that the running voltage drops to dangerous levels. Now......the alta govt in all its wisdom has said that for the good of the province, they need to upgrade the power lines from Fort McMurray to Edmonton, and from Edmonton to Southern Alberta....hey, that sounds good. Oh no....the power producers lobbied Murray Smith into laying the whole cost of the line upgrades...millions of dollars...into our, the consumers lap. The govt is not spending one dollar, neither is the Syncrudes or Suncors, not a single penny. Meanwhile, we have several brand spanking new plants right in our own backyard, that cannot run due to economics. You want to see an extremely unreliable electrical system...have all the power in one centralized area....remember the big power outage, one of the recommendations to come out of that was to centralize the power industry....we are going the opposite way.
I think that everyone should write their MLA and demand that power prices be adjusted on a continual basis...not this fixed rate. Someone or something is making huge profits off our backs, and we in Southern Alberta are getting royally screwed becasue the big companies in Fort Mcmurray are whining that power prices are so low and their power is stranded.....its BU***HIT.
Whew, glad I got that off my chest
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