In the last few weeks we’ve been focusing on how the wind power fraud impacts on South Australian power prices – making them the highest in the world – although SA seems to be fighting for line honours with wind power mad Denmark.
STT readers are well aware of what happens when SA’s 1,223 MW of installed wind power capacity takes a well earned break for days at an end.
SA’s pro-wind power rag – The Advertiser – has finally caught on that wind power just might not be as “free” as the Clean Energy Council and their clients – the wind weasels – have been pretending.
And apparently, welfare groups like UnitingCommunities must have missed the SA Labor Government’s offer to teach the growing number of people who can no longer foot their power bills the benefits of candles and how to cook like Masterchefs on a wood stove.
SA’s latest Masterchef contender in training at home.
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Power generators accused of using lack of wind as excuse to charge more for electricity
The Advertiser
Miles Kemp
14 June 2013
WELFARE groups have accused electricity generators of using a wind failure as a smokescreen for a wholesale electricity price spike that will increase electricity bills.
The incident happened last week when the price increased from the average below $100 per MwH to $12,199 MwH.
An investigation by the Federal Government’s Australian Energy Market Operator has found a number of the reasons can be traced back to electricity generators.
Welfare agencies have renewed calls for electricity generators to be banned from deliberately taking their power offline to create a spike in wholesale prices on the spot market.
“It is of great concern for SA’s electricity supply that Osborne and Torrens Island Power Stations as well as Pelican Point and Port Augusta can all be operating at reduced or zero output, when the interconnector is also down,” Uniting Communities spokesman Mark Henley said.
“Consumers are asking who benefits and who loses when wholesale electricity costs go sky high, because we know that consumers are the losers.
“South Australian energy policymakers and the regulator need to be certain that market power is not being exercised in this state and that it is not possible for generator market power to be exercised.’’
AGL owns Torrens Island power station, as well as about 25 per cent of the state’s wind power.
The price blowout began last week when AGL’s wind generation capacity dropped to zero. Between Saturday June 1 and Monday June 3, all wind generation in SA dropped from 900 MW to zero because of weather conditions.
AEMO has told The Advertiser other generation units were also offline, causing the price spike.
“The reduced thermal generation capacity included plant at Osborne and Torrens Island,’’ an AEMO spokeswoman said.
“The Murraylink interconnector (which brings electricity from Victoria) was out of service due to a cable fault.’’
A spokeswoman for AGL said there had been planned maintenance at Torrens Island and then and an “incident” at the power station on 31 May, prior to the wind failure.
“A 200 MW generating unit at the gas-fired power station tripped following a switchboard fault. Two other 200 MW generating units subsequently tripped,’’ she said.
“A full investigation into the cause of the incident which resulted in the units losing generation capacity is currently being conducted.”
The Federal Government Australian Energy Market Commission has been criticised by welfare groups for not taking action against so-called “gaming” by electricity generators, despite accepting the circumstances exist for it happening because of the small number of generators in the SA market.
Household bills are partly based on the wholesale price retailers must pay generators to onsell their electricity to customers, meaning the $12,199 MwH spike will flow on to consumers.
The Advertiser
“Dissembling”: Conceal one’s true motives, feelings, or beliefs; disguise or conceal (a feeling or intention).
STT puts the poser: which corporate wind weasel is “dissembling” in the piece above?
To help with your answers have a look at our friendly cheat sheets here, here and here.
Oh – and one more clue – STT thinks the operator in question has lifted its business strategy straight from the Enron “playbook”.
About stopthesethings
STOP THESE THINGS 
Another Green Lie
Did not Mike Rann’s South Australian ALP Government (LAP dancers for wind industry erections?) strategically change the rules on his second last day in office to reduce the appeal rights of neighbours to proposed wind factories? (and to nullify an appeal process that was before the courts?) And the SA EPA fiddle the rules? And the Federal government ignore senate recommendations for research? And the NH&MRC ignore their own recommendations for research? And no research sponsored by any government or industry anywhere in the world of affected individuals living too close to turbines. The list goes on and on…
The ENRON-like scheming of industry clearly extends to the highest levels of government, as in the US. Bring on a Royal Commission- the stench from the wind industry is overpowering. And kill the RECs-they are the equivalent of suitcases of cash to satisfy the gratification of industry (a smidgeon of which they also use to bribe rural hosts and communities) and salve the conscience of Urban environmentalists. For zero reduction in real emissions!
See you at the rally for transparency & justice on Tuesday.
Cheers, Van