Posted on 08/31/2003 6:09:38 AM PDT by Between the Lines
COLUMBIA - South Carolina's two largest electric utilities say they shouldn't have to pay for upgrading power transmission systems in the Northeast that failed in the nation's largest blackout.
The Electric Power Research Institute, a California group that represents much of the utility industry, issued a report this week that said $100 billion is needed to overhaul the U.S. energy system.
The report comes in the wake of the blackout two weeks ago.
But regulators and utilities say South Carolina's power transmission system is sound as long as it doesn't face the burden of becoming part of a national energy market that some large utilities elsewhere want.
"We firmly believe we have built a good, solid system that serves our customers well," said Charlie White, SCANA's director of transmission planning and systems control.
The blackout provides a reason to slow down the move to a national energy market, said James "Buddy" Atkins, a member of the state Public Service Commission and of the planning committee for the North American Electric Reliability Council.
The region's system meets its needs, Atkins said. But a national market would mean upgrading transmission lines so more energy could flow through the region, even though the region's customers don't use it.
"You have to build transmission lines large enough to accommodate both of those uses," Atkins said. "Then the question comes up: Who pays?"
Utilities in the Northeast and Southeast have met growing demand from customers in different ways.
Northeast utilities tend to use an open-market, buy-and-distribute power system, with transmission and power-generating components done by different companies.
The utilities also buy more power from outside their service areas, pulling power through long-distance transmission lines.
But in the Southeast, regulated monopolies dominate energy generation, sales and transmission. The population is spread out more evenly and power plants are placed closer to where energy is needed.
Power transmission and power plants tend to be owned by the same companies, and they have an incentive to make sure they don't overload their systems.
Dramatic changes aren't needed in the Southeast, said Terry Blackwell, senior vice president for power delivery for Santee Cooper.
The state-owned utility shouldn't have to spend money to upgrade electric systems elsewhere, he said.
"When our customers benefit, we're willing to pay for our share," Blackwell argues.
But "when you're talking about socializing energy costs across the U.S., I doubt you'll find too many people saying, `Sign me up for that.' "
What a concept!
Sure ... it's EASY to recommend 'cures' when it's someone else's money ... the real trick is to work with what you've got, study the situation for *real* needs then propose realistic plans to meet those needs ... simply 'throwing money' at a problem is a no-brainer ...
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