Energy Tradeoffs Podcast #11 – Frank Wolak

This Thursday’s EnergyTradeoffs.com podcast episode features Stanford’s Frank Wolak talking with David Spence about his research on “Market Solutions to Reliability Challenges in Electricity Markets.”

Frank explains different approaches to ensuring the reliability of the electric grid, including Texas’s approach of allowing very high prices during periods of peak demand to encourage sufficient power supply—an approach that has been repeatedly tested during hot weather in the past month. He also explains the other, more common, approach of a regulatory mandate to purchase reserves in advance, and the downsides of that conventional approach.

Frank also explains why Southern California’s solar creates ideal conditions to motivate short-term battery storage of electricity: a quick spike of lots of power for a short slice of the day that then ramps down quickly just as power demand peaks.

The Energy Tradeoffs Podcast can be found at the following links: 
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