Tennessee Valley Authority electricity rates jump 20 percent
TVA electricity rates jump 20 percent today (Times Daily)
The wholesale price of electricity jumped 20 percent today across north Alabama and portions of six other states as the Tennessee Valley Authority tries to cope with the rapidly rising cost of coal and power that it purchases from other utilities…For the average resident of the Tennessee Valley, the increase will mean about $20 more per month on the electric bill.
TVA spokesman Gil Francis said the rate adjustment, the largest in 34 years for the utility, is needed to help TVA pay for the coal used to produce the bulk of its electricity and other expenses.
“Central Appalachian coal that we were buying for about $60 per ton in January was costing $140 per ton in August,” he said. “The cost of transporting that coal to our power plants has also increased. When we have to purchase power from other utilities to meet peak demands, that also costs us more than it did at the beginning of the year. Plus our hydroelectric generation remains about 50 percent of normal for the year, which forces us to burn more coal and purchase more power to meet our customers’ demands for electricity.”
Explaining TVA’s Rates (EnergyBiz Insider)
It’s a function of supply and demand. More people are moving into the region and consuming more energy. But the utility’s supply is stretched. It imports much of its coal from China, which is now a scarce resource. Price increases for fuel, including coal, natural gas and purchased power are driving TVA’s costs up by more than $2 billion in fiscal year 2009, compared to fiscal year 2008.
At the same time, TVA has been able to generate only about half as much inexpensive hydropower this year as it would generate in an average year. When TVA cannot generate that hydropower — about 1,000 megawatts — it must buy replacement power at market prices. Those power prices are much greater than hydropower costs and were even higher this summer, averaging 63 percent higher than last summer.
Tens of Thousands of Tennesseans Expected to Switch to Plug-in Vehicles within Next Five Years
The Republican Senator of Tennessee, Lamar Alexander, said this week that he expects tens of thousands of Tennesseans to switch to plug-in electric vehicles or plug-in hybrid vehicles at least partially powered by electricity within the next five years.
The TN Senators met with representatives of auto manufacturing companies, battery producers, and Chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Bill Sansom, who offered a 20 percent discount of off-peak electricity (i.e. outside of noon to 6 PM) that would encourage adoption of plug-in vehicles with batteries that could be charged cost effectively during off-peak evening hours.
According to Energy Central News, TVA carries an excess generating capacity of roughly 7,000 megawatts in the evening, equivalent to the generating capacity of roughly six or seven nuclear power plants.
The top selling hybrid car in the U.S., Toyota Prius, is also the most fuel efficient car sold in the U.S. with an average fuel economy of 48 miles per gallon. GM sells several hybrid vehicles as well.
In contrast to non-plug-in hybrid vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) need to operate in a long-range charge depleting mode, which requires deep discharge of the battery’s energy over time. A123 Systems develops affordable PHEV cells, based on nanophosphate lithium-ion battery technology, with the following innovations:
- Higher energy density for long-range (100+miles), charge-depleting, all electric PHEV operation;
- Retention of high power for charge-sustaining PHEV operation;
- Thousands of deep discharge cycles for successful, long-term PHEV operation.
The following graph illustrates how the A123 PHEV cells maintain their energy capacity over thousands of deep discharge cycles.
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EIA: Retail Prices
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