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Energy expert warns capacity-price spikes and grid stress could raise local bills
Summary
A consultant told the county board that recent capacity-price spikes in PJM and extreme weather events in ERCOT show how grid reliability strains can sharply increase electricity costs and risk outages if supply and demand balance fails.
Mark Pruett, principal of Power Bureau LLC and an adjunct professor at Northwestern University, told the county board on Aug. 25 that recent wholesale market behavior and weather shocks have increased the risk of high bills and outages. Pruett said the wholesale auctions that determine generation and capacity payments can create sharp price swings when supply tightens. “This is why prices are hugely volatile in electricity markets because this auction process happens on a day ahead basis and then on the day of generation it happens every 5 minutes,” he said. Pruett walked the…
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