There has to be a certain percentage of “spinning reserve”, i.e. lightly loaded generators that are running at perhaps 10% capacity, that can take up the demand for power in a very short period. As long as you don’t have to increase the amount of spinning reserve, the rates will stay low in off peak hours.
The problem is, the green idea is to have everyone on the smart grid so that you can choose to consume power when it is cheaper.
In their theory, that would be when the windmills are at peak capacity and the load is projected to be lower. The problem is, if everyone is on the smart grid, everyone will turn on their air conditioners and car chargers all at the same time.
Having 10% lightly loaded generators will completely destroy any possible cost savings that was going to be generated by having the smart grid in the first place.
In other words, more money down the toilet.
You should also add how long it takes to spin up a power plant from a cold start. Some natural gas “peaker” plants can come up quickly, but just about everything else needs time to spin up - hours upon hours of startup time.
It would be great if that were the fact in Texas now. They are talking rolling blackouts here if the demand stays where it has been the past few days.
One of the problems that has popped with Green Energy is the increased amount of Spinning reserve needed for a windless or cloudy day.