4.1. SR 07-20-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Midwest price spikes produce winners and losers (continued from page I0) to run a 100-watt light bulb for I0 hours, at $5,000 a MWh it would cost $5. This kind of free market is wonder- ful if you're a s, eller, "but if you're a buyer, it's hell,' he said. '"-"' "It was an exciting time," said Rich Friedman, director of operations and trading at Wisconsin Public Power, Inc. Wisconsin didn't have the heat wave that struck other parts of the Midwest, but the supply side was tight because of outages at several major' nuclear plants. W'PPI had enough electricity to cover its load, though, and also had some sur- plus power. "We were selling well up into the triple digits," Friedman said. "We didn't capture the $5,000 or $10,000 [prices that were being talked about], but we were doing pretty well." The buying frenzy hit its peak June 29, when the state found itself with all transmission cut coming in from the st, Friedman said. Tornadoes in Iowa ,,ad brought down a critical 345-kV line that brings power north to Minnesota, he said. The Nuclear Regulatoi'y Com- mission ?eported that 9,708 MW, or nearly half the nuclear capacity in the upper Midwest, was out of se]wice. "I would say the entire system was at very high-risk," said Friedmfin. There was so little excess power nationwide that a loss of one or two big generating units could have caused blackouts, he said. "In Wisconsin, I think everything was on line except for one of Wisconsin Electric Power Co.'s plants," Friedman said. "But we have CornEd to the south and Northern States Power to the west." These utilities "are so big that if they have problems, they tend to bring us down too." Indiana Municipal Power Agency had to btty very expensive power, but also sold power at very high rates, said President Raj Rao. "The net ef- fect was positive for IMPA," he said. "We were antici- pating that kind of volatility in the market, so / we were not sur- prised,'' he said. When the electricity mar- ket experiences what it went through June 24- 26, "you're happy you've adhered to the rules and thatyou didn't lie about having phantom capac- ity,'' said Dave Christiano, man- ager of Electric System Control for Springfield, Mo., Utilities. Springfield sold electric- ity in the $500 to $600 range. Christiano acknowledged that prices were exces- sive and "irrational," but when they reach those levels, Springfield will try to profit by them too, he said. Some industry officials believe power marketers had as much to do'with the outrageous prices as the weather. "It sttre seems that [power] marketers do strange things at the end of the month" to try to bid up electricity sales for the following month, said Christiano. I A double billboard leans precariously in Peoria, II1., after a dune 29 storm produced 80 mph Ousts. Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes downed a number of transmission towers in the Midwest late last monthl weakeninD the odd. Associated Press photo PUBLIC Powea WEEKLY American Public Power Association 2301 M St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037-1484 return postage guaranteed on recycled paper Printed with soy ink. NEWSPAPER USPS 028-120 I,hh,hh,,Ih,,Ihlh,,,,h hhhhh,,Ih,,,h h,hlh,hl 3 9 1 "' ~ ~' * * * * * * * * * "~ * '" "~ "' "' **"3-OIGIT bRYAN A O A i'~ S GENERAL ~IANAGER I~iUNICIPAL UTILITIES 322 KING AVE ['LK RIVER I'qN 5533;)-2596 5 53 Periodicals POSTAGE PAID Washington, D.C. and additional mailing offices