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This is a good point. Demand flexibility is a great resource. However, effectively zero consumers pay the spot price currently. Distribution utilities worry th
by maliker 7y ago
This is a good point. Demand flexibility is a great resource.
However, effectively zero consumers pay the spot price currently. Distribution utilities worry that time-varying electricity prices (1) are confusing to consumers (2) any change in rates triggers regulatory review and creates winners and losers (i.e. some bills go up, others go down).
I work with utilities, and we are seeing a lot more interest in time of use and dynamic pricing. I think EVs will help a lot with socializing time-varying prices. Incentivizing consumers to charge at night is hugely beneficial for everyone, which means you can roll it out to consumers in a way that always reduces costs, making it feel less punitive than a time-varying rate that otherwise might help or hurt.
- nradov 7y agoIncentivizing consumers to charge EVs at night only makes sense right now because of surplus base load capacity on the grid from nuclear and fossil fuel power plants. As the generation mix shifts more toward solar and wind it will eventually make more sense to charge during the day. The key will be to embed smart agents in EV chargers and other power hungry devices so that they can dynamically choose when to activate based on spot prices.
- ip26 7y agoWind is phenomenally cheap power, total demand at night is low, and wind production is usually highest at night. I would not be surprised if it always made sense to charge up storage at night. The only exception would be if so much storage capacity came online that the variability of wind was completely absorbed & the arbitrage disappeared.
- nradov 7y agoIt depends on your location but must wind turbines produce less at night. https://carboncounter.wordpress.com/2015/07/10/are-wind-farms-more-productive-at-night/ https://carboncounter.wordpress.com/2015/07/10/are-wind-farm...
- ip26 7y agoThanks, wasn't familiar with all those locales. I mostly think of Wyoming when I think wind power, but of course not everywhere is like Wyoming.