Re: Electrons

[cliff parker <cparker@CHARTER.NET>]

Thomas O'Neill wrote:

>   The real economic impetus of the
> project was to time-shift electrical energy production (think of it has
> one huge honkin' battery) rather than actually make money from the
> process.

But the purpose of time shifting electrical energy production is to make
better use of physical plant resources and therefore more money.  It costs a
great deal of money to idle a multi-million perhaps mutli-billion dollar
generating plant.  One of the largest costs of electrical generation in fact
is building physical plants to be used only during times of  peak demand.
Most larger commercial consumers of electrical power (I use the term power
intentionally) pay a significant percentage of their bill in what is called
a demand charge.  That is, a fee is charged for each kilowatt "requested"
during the highest power demand period each month.  Such a consumer may very
well be able to lower their electric bill by consuming more energy.  As long
as in the process they are able to minimize their peak demand.
--
Cliff Parker

Never express yourself more clearly than you can think.  --  Niels Bohr