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Actually, we don't have 12 hours per day with “lots” of spare capacity. Anyone that has worked with a variable rate electrical costs has direct experience with this.

On weekdays, the “lots” of spare capacity time period is typically about 6 hours per day, midnight to 6am. There's some increased spare capacity available for about 2 hours before midnight and after 6am. At any time, the spare capacity can be instantly and radically reduced by a power plant completely tripping offline. Impossible? No.

I watched a modern 1500 megawatt cogeneration thermal plant trip off due to fire. Totally destroyed. The Texas Grid absorbed the electric loss in a fraction of a second then carried the load until a new construction cogen plant came online about 6 months later.

The cogen steam load was replaced in a day or so by a 1940 thermal plant that had been mothballed 10 years earlier. High level preservation with corrosion inhibitors, plumps and valves exercised regularly, antiquated controls maintained. After this last hurrah by the old power plant, it was demolished a year after its steam was no longer needed.

Economic impacts…. At the time, this chemical complex had revenues of something north of $100MM per month. Big place. Pulling a number out of the air, let’s say the grid could not absorb this additional load and the old, mothballed power plant was not onsite. Facility revenues reduced by $50MM per month and 5000 trained employees furloughed because the spare electricity and steam capacity was not available.

Things roll downhill and suppliers, service providers and external customers affected as well. Several 10s of thousands of other persons lost jobs and other companies had $500MM per month in reduced revenues. Shortages of certain consumer and industrial products led to retail inflation and another $500MM per month of adverse impacts.

The conventional electric grid should not and must not be treated so frivolously as is the latest fashion with green energy crap. There is a firm foundation to society that is dangerously being tinkered with. My opinions….