Missouri utility companies are moving to time-of-use rates. Here’s whyMissouri’s Evergy, Ameren and Liberty residential customers may soon see their utility bills change based on when they use electricity instead of only how much they use it. All three of Missouri’s investor-owned utility companies should have a majority of their customers on a time-of-use rate structure by the end of 2025. The push for time-of-use rates comes as advocates hope to put less pressure on the power grid and give consumers more choices.
Upcoming rate structures
Evergy is the first utility company moving toward a mandatory time-of-use rate structure. Customers in Kansas City and other western Missouri communities can select from four plans.
Liberty transitioned its customers in Missouri last fall to a default time-of-use rate option that payers could opt out of. Ameren plans to move payers to a default time-of-use rate in the next year.
Missouri overhauls electric rates, raising rewards — and risks — for customersRegulators in Missouri have ordered the most aggressive electric-rate overhaul in the country — a bold step aimed at providing households with more control over their bills and encouraging them to use less energy during peak hours. Unlike “flat” electric rates, the industry standard for decades where power costs the same no matter what time of day it’s used, regulators in the Show Me State are making time-based rates the default option for households. They carry steep price differentials between peak and off-peak periods, a setup that will be watched across the utility industry.
Missouri is one of a growing number of states making time-varying rates the default choice for consumers, requiring them to opt out if it doesn’t suit their lifestyle. California and Michigan have done the same. But Missouri stands apart because of the aggressive price differentials between peak and off-peak periods that are aimed at influencing consumer behavior.
When the new rate structure takes effect next year for St. Louis-based Ameren Missouri, the state’s largest utility, running an air conditioner for residential customers switched to the new rate will cost five times more between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays than during off-peak hours. By contrast, off-peak prices, in effect from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and on weekends, are about half of what residential customers currently pay under today’s default rate.
Evergy to roll out time-of-use rates for Missouri customersA new rate plan by Evergy will soon change how Missouri residents are charged for electricity.
Starting in October, Evergy will be rolling out a series of new time-based rate plans that adjusts the price you pay for electricity based on the time of day its used. Evergy said all Missouri customers will be impacted by this change and will need to enroll in one of four time-based rate plans.
“The Missouri Public Service Commission regulates utilities in Missouri,” Kelli Kolich with Evergy said. “They mandated last year that we switch to time based rates for all of our customers by the end of this year.”
Standard Peak Saver
Under this standard plan, customers will be charged a higher per-kilowatt hour rate from 4-8 p.m. on weekdays from June until September.
According to Evergy’s website, during the summer months from 4-8 p.m. the price of electricity will spike from $0.09 to $0.38 per kilowatt hour (kWh).
Germany's long support for wind and solar energy is delivering zero-cost electricity at times. In contrast, the UK's new energy policy seeks to underwrite the rising cost of nuclear. "Too cheap to meter": that was the infamous boast of the nuclear power industry in its heyday. It has been catastrophically discredited by history.
Yet the phrase may yet see a new life - not of course for nuclear power - but for renewable energy. As the UK government publishes its draft energy bill on Tuesday, acknowledged by all but ministers themselves as primarily an arcane way of getting new nuclear power stations built, I am sitting in Germany. Already, on one particularly windy weekend here, the surge of electricity drove the price down to zero. Very soon, due to the 25GW of solar capacity Germany has already installed, hot summer's days will see the same effect: electricity too cheap to meter.
https://wirepoints.org/progressive-lawm ... irepoints/Oopsie.
When Congress voted to spend hundreds of billions to switch electricity production to solar and wind, it forgot something: transmission lines. New ones will be needed going to the locations of the new power sources, but nobody bothered to figure out who will pay for it or how much it will cost.
Congressmen Sean Casten (D-IL) and Mike Levin (D-CA) introduced a bill last month to fix their omission, largely at your expense. The bill has already picked up 76 co-sponsors, including eight from Illinois.
Grab your wallet. Here are the details:
In 2022, Congress passed the mislabeled Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which will cost an estimated $1.2 trillion, far exceeding initial claims. The IRA actually was the largest energy bill in U.S. history. Tax credits for renewable energy production, among the biggest elements of the law, are estimated to cost $263 billion.
No cap was placed on those tax credits and they were generous – 30% of project costs. That’s part of the reason for the cost overrun but it also means that new solar and wind production projects are underway. All the better, say IRA supporters.
Now, however, there’s widespread, bipartisan recognition that those projects are futile without transmission linking them into the electrical grid. Progressive economist Paul Krugman, for example, cheered the IRA but wrote despairingly in the New York Times that “we may need a third, bureaucratic miracle to fix the electricity grid and make this whole thing work.”
Casten, also an avid IRA supporter, now admits to the gravity of the problem saying that “80% of the clean energy progress we made with the Inflation Reduction Act will be lost unless we reform transmission and permitting.”
theluckycountry wrote:Progressive Lawmakers Line Up Behind Costly Fix For Error They Made In Renewable Energy Planhttps://wirepoints.org/progressive-lawm ... irepoints/Oopsie.
When Congress voted to spend hundreds of billions to switch electricity production to solar and wind, it forgot something: transmission lines. New ones will be needed going to the locations of the new power sources, but nobody bothered to figure out who will pay for it or how much it will cost.
Congressmen Sean Casten (D-IL) and Mike Levin (D-CA) introduced a bill last month to fix their omission, largely at your expense. The bill has already picked up 76 co-sponsors, including eight from Illinois.
Grab your wallet. Here are the details:
In 2022, Congress passed the mislabeled Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which will cost an estimated $1.2 trillion, far exceeding initial claims. The IRA actually was the largest energy bill in U.S. history. Tax credits for renewable energy production, among the biggest elements of the law, are estimated to cost $263 billion.
No cap was placed on those tax credits and they were generous – 30% of project costs. That’s part of the reason for the cost overrun but it also means that new solar and wind production projects are underway. All the better, say IRA supporters.
Now, however, there’s widespread, bipartisan recognition that those projects are futile without transmission linking them into the electrical grid. Progressive economist Paul Krugman, for example, cheered the IRA but wrote despairingly in the New York Times that “we may need a third, bureaucratic miracle to fix the electricity grid and make this whole thing work.”
Casten, also an avid IRA supporter, now admits to the gravity of the problem saying that “80% of the clean energy progress we made with the Inflation Reduction Act will be lost unless we reform transmission and permitting.”
Another good example of why not to take futuristic pronouncements by governments at face value.
Alfred Tennyson wrote:We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Tanada wrote: In addition all 15 could have been constructed at existing Coal power production locations eliminating the need for new distribution infrastructure and eliminating 30, 750 MWe coal burning station in the process.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/worri ... californiaThe solar industry in California is facing significant headwinds following the implementation of a new policy in April, which reduced incentives that had encouraged homeowners to install solar systems.
...Since last April, sales of rooftop solar systems across the state have crashed 85% in the most recent months of 2023 compared to similar periods one year before, according to solar firm Ohm Analytics...
Abandon Coal Mines Are Being Repurposed Into Renewable Energy HubsFeb 12, 2024 - In the U.K., the government is investing in the assessment of the potential for old coal mine sites to be converted into renewable energy hubs. As many governments around the globe aim to phase out the use of coal, researchers are exploring the potential for old mining sites. Rather than be left abandoned, ex-coal production sites could be used for a multitude of purposes, from solar energy to geothermal operations, supporting a green transition and reinvigorating the economies of previous energy hubs.
In the U.K., the metro mayor for the west of England, Dan Norris, is investing £1.5 million in the exploration of over 100 coal mines in Somerset and South Gloucestershire to explore the potential for supplying renewable heat sources in the region. The mines in this region were emptied of coal and then closed and flooded, as the pumps were turned off. The water in the mines is heated by geothermal energy, with heat coming from the Earth’s core, allowing it to reach temperatures of around 20oC. The idea is that the water is extracted, and the heat is separated from the water to be used in heat pumps in homes and businesses across the country. New geothermal operations in existing coal mines could provide vast amounts of low-carbon heat. In addition, the water is pumped back into the mines to be recycled, making it a highly efficient process.
And it’s not just the geothermal energy potential that researchers are exploring when it comes to repurposing old coal sites. With many coal operations covering vast amounts of land, they are ideal for conversion into solar farms. Installing solar energy infrastructure on degraded lands like mining sites and landfills is a low-cost way of transforming the sites into clean energy hubs. Using ex-mining sites can help save time and costs associated with project development, as many sites already have vital infrastructure, such as transmission lines and roads. It can also revitalise the economy of former energy hubs, creating jobs and providing clean energy for communities.
Daniel Kestner from the Virginia Department of Energy explained, “In the coalfield region, there are about 100,000 acres that’s been impacted from mining… better to build on a lot of these mine sites than some prime farmland or some areas that maybe don’t want solar in their community.”
As governments look to increase their renewable energy capacity and reinvigorate former energy hubs, the repurposing of coal sites could provide the perfect opportunity for transformation. There is huge potential for the development of both geothermal and solar energy operations, which could help bring jobs and revenue back to long-neglected mining communities, as well as support a green transition.
In an unexpected twist, old coal plants are being repurposed to generate clean energyJanuary 14, 2024 - Across the United States, coal-fired power plants are shutting down for good. In the last twenty years, over 600 have been retired. But just because these plants aren’t burning coal doesn’t mean they aren’t still being used. A trend is now emerging in a number of states to repurpose the plants to create new jobs and supply clean, renewable energy.
So, why would a solar farm, for example, want to be placed at the site of a non-operational coal plant?
It turns out that because these plants are already wired to the power grid — meaning that they’re already connected to the network of substations, transformers, wires, sensors, and poles that carry electricity from power plants to be distributed to our homes — installing new power plants at the site of old ones saves energy companies a lot of money and time.
Additionally, many oppose installing new power lines because they can spoil a nice backyard view, or even reduce your property’s value.
All these factors make existing coal plants ideal sites for new clean energy projects to set up shop. In the race to ramp up clean energy production across the United States, this is an important part of what the future looks like.
The idea to transition these sites has taken hold in a number of states, with Illinois leading the pack. In the Prairie State alone, there are currently nine plants that will become solar farms or battery storage facilities.
And more coastal states like New Jersey and Massachusetts are opting to repurpose their coal plants for new wind farms.
These switches make sense, as clean energy is quickly becoming the least expensive energy source available in many states.
kublikhan wrote:The mines in this region were emptied of coal and then closed and flooded, as the pumps were turned off. The water in the mines is heated by geothermal energy, with heat coming from the Earth’s core, allowing it to reach temperatures of around 20oC. The idea is that the water is extracted, and the heat is separated from the water to be used in heat pumps in homes and businesses across the country. New geothermal operations in existing coal mines could provide vast amounts of low-carbon heat. In addition, the water is pumped back into the mines to be recycled, making it a highly efficient process.
And it’s not just the geothermal energy potential that researchers are exploring when it comes to repurposing old coal sites.
In the English Channel the water temperature can vary from (15°C) at the end of June, increasing to (18°C) by the beginning of September. WOW! Geothermal for sure...
For direct use of geothermal heat, the temperature range for the agricultural sector lies between 25 °C 90 °C, for space heating lies between 50 °C to 100 °C
Conclusions:
Mine water from three closed coal mines, located in the ACCB (NW Spain) and is presented as an interesting option for local geothermal energy generation. The temperature of the stored mine water was found to be 20–23 °C ...The results obtained show that 20 MW of thermal energy is available for heat recovery from mine waters, compared to 4 MW of electrical power committed
You are the perfect example of the Dunning–Kruger effect. You learn a little bit about a topic. Then you think you know everything. You walk around absolutely certain of your conclusions. Then you think people who have come to a different conclusion on the topic ignorant fools. I have seen you display this behavior time and time again on many topics. No uncertainty, no doubt, no room for new information, just blind unwavering faith in the faulty conclusions you have drawn. Never mind it is a proven technology that has already been around for decades. If you think it's a scam, it's a scam.theluckycountry wrote:kublikhan wrote:The mines in this region were emptied of coal and then closed and flooded, as the pumps were turned off. The water in the mines is heated by geothermal energy, with heat coming from the Earth’s core, allowing it to reach temperatures of around 20oC. The idea is that the water is extracted, and the heat is separated from the water to be used in heat pumps in homes and businesses across the country. New geothermal operations in existing coal mines could provide vast amounts of low-carbon heat. In addition, the water is pumped back into the mines to be recycled, making it a highly efficient process.
And it’s not just the geothermal energy potential that researchers are exploring when it comes to repurposing old coal sites.
What a crock of $hit. Geothermal? 20°C, talk about stretching the truth.In the English Channel the water temperature can vary from (15°C) at the end of June, increasing to (18°C) by the beginning of September. WOW! Geothermal for sure...
For direct use of geothermal heat, the temperature range for the agricultural sector lies between 25 °C 90 °C, for space heating lies between 50 °C to 100 °C
You seem to find every useless scam out there in your desperate search for a renewable that works kub.
Ground-source heat pumpsIn regions without any high temperature geothermal resources, a ground-source heat pump (GSHP) can provide space heating and space cooling. Like a refrigerator or air conditioner, these systems use a heat pump to force the transfer of heat from the ground to the building. Heat can be extracted from any source, no matter how cold, but a warmer source allows higher efficiency. A ground-source heat pump uses the shallow ground or ground water (typically starting at 10–12 °C or 50–54 °F) as a source of heat, thus taking advantage of its seasonally moderate temperatures.
This technology makes ground source heating economically viable in any geographical location. In 2004, an estimated million ground-source heat pumps with a total capacity of 15 GW extracted 88 PJ of heat energy for space heating. Global ground-source heat pump capacity is growing by 10% annually.
Ground source heat pumpGround source heat pumps, also known as geothermal heat pumps, are highly effective space heating and cooling technologies that extract heat from the ground. The ground source heat pumps are literally pumping heat from the ground into a space, often someone's home. Heat can be extracted from any temperature, no matter how cold, however hotter temperatures result in better performance.
Environmental Impact
Ground source heat pumps use energy effectively, and are often cost-effective and clean systems. They use 25% to 50% less electricity to run compared to conventional heating and cooling systems, and for every unit of electricity they can get over three units of heat (a COP over 3).[9]
CO2 emissions from these systems can be up to 40% less than other heating or cooling systems. Even better, if the electricity was generated by a renewable energy source, such as a house's solar panels, then there are zero greenhouse gas emissions during the system's operation (however, there are indeed GHGs associated with manufacture, installment, decommission, etc).
West of England coalmines to be mapped for renewable energy potentialIt has already been a success in Gateshead, where the council-owned Gateshead Energy Company is using warm water from the extensive network of old mine workings 150 metres below the town to supply heat and hot water.
How disused coal mines are used to heat buildings
The water is heated by geothermal energy, the heat from the Earth’s core, and in some places can reach temperatures of about 20C.
Dan Mallin Martin, a hydrogeologist with the Coal Authority, the public body responsible for managing the effects of past coalmining, says this naturally heated water can be brought up through shafts or boreholes and passed through a heat exchanger – extracting the heat from the water.
“Typically we can take out around five to 8C, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but if you pass that to a heat pump, which is effectively a fridge in reverse, it boosts the temperature to something we can use – something like 60 or 70 degrees centigrade – that can go into people’s homes, people’s businesses, into hospitals, heat networks, many different end users.
“That’s a great way to make use of that and they can be really efficient. And really low carbon.”
“The transition to heat pumps as an energy source is very important and that’s one of our options for decarbonising our heating requirements across the UK,” Mallin Martin said. “With heat pumps, ground source options and mine water, we can feed into that decarbonisation, especially if we couple it with green electricity like solar panels and wind.”
kublikhan wrote:You are the perfect example of the Dunning–Kruger effect. You learn a little bit about a topic. Then you think you know everything. You walk around absolutely certain of your conclusions. Then you think people who have come to a different conclusion on the topic ignorant fools.
https://www.sitra.fi/en/cases/ground-so ... stockholm/Ground source heat pumps use the heat from the bedrock for space heating and hot water. In Stockholm, more than one third of all single-family houses not connected to district heating have a ground source heat pump.
https://www.vattenfall.se/english/district-heating/District heating is a climate-smart energy system which heats over half of all commercial and residential buildings in Sweden. The district heating network is a network of several thousand kilometres of pipes, transporting hot water under our feet through our towns. The hot water then heats up the buildings without you having to do a thing. ...We produce district heating from what would otherwise go to waste. For example, this can be waste from forests in the form of branches and wood chips,
https://www.sitra.fi/en/cases/ground-so ... stockholm/The heat is typically collected by circulating a fluid in a well that is 100 to 200 metres deep and extracted by a heat pump, which delivers three units of heat for each unit of electricity used.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/sweden- ... -1.6806799In the 1970s, three quarters of Swedish homes were heated with oil boilers. Today, electric-powered heat pumps have all but replaced oil in single-family homes ...Forsén, manager of international affairs for NIBE Energy Systems, shared his personal account of the Swedish transition last week at the Heat Pump Symposium in Mississauga, Ont., organized by the Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada. ...Sweden had a surplus of electricity that made electricity cheap, nudging homeowners toward heat pumps.
https://www.geothermal-energy.org/pdf/I ... /01040.pdfThe vast majority of the Swedish shallow geothermal energy systems are vertical boreholes in hard rock, serving as heat source for heat pumps to single-family houses. There are around two million single-family houses in Sweden, and approximately 20-25% of these houses are today heated with a GSHP.
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